Through the Eyes of a Frog Prince
by MistyKoopa
Summary: Mallows story of SMRPG, from when he was sundered from Nimbus Land until after the end of SMRPG. SMRPG spoilers inside! Ch.6 up!
1. Loss of a Prince, Birth of a Frog

Hello, and welcome to my little ficcie, Through the Eyes of a Frog Prince, a story of Super Mario RPG from Mallows view! First off, lets get some things straight-

1: This story contains spoilers! If you have not played SMRPG, or have not completed it, and have the intention of doing so, stop reading. This story has spoilers starting from when you begin to read. So, if you dare to continue, you HAVE been warned!

2: This is a pro-Mallow story. So no flames going "Mallow sucks!" or anything like that. Back click now, thanks.

3: Reviews are welcome. I like to know how good/bad I am doing. Please, I WANT to know what you think. But, no flames or telling me how much of a loser I am, or whatever. Thanks. And, I'll update when I'll update. Chapter 2 should come in a week, so please be patient.

Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story!!

Chapter One: Death of a Prince, Birth of a Frog

Nimbus Land.... a beautiful country in the sky. Although it was technically a cloud (or more correctly a series of clouds), it was thick, and you wouldn't fall through. A series of small vines and tiny clouds led up to a cloud below the main one. A tiny path to the right led to the hot springs (for the royal family only, and anyone with their permission, due to the fact if it was over crowded someone could fall into the Volcano below). A spring board lead to the main cloud, where there was a village. Houses made out of vines and cloud seemed drafty and plain at first, but the inside was cozy and was elaboratly decorated, for the Nimbians were proud of their heritidge. The center of this village was a sort of gathering spot. If the royal family had an important announcement, a messenger would come, and the Nimbians would assemble and hear the news. And a little ways away from the gathering spot....

Was the royal palace. Inside and out it was elaborate. The inside had beautiful, expensive, carpeting, even in the areas that a commoner could walk around in every day. The current ruler, King Cumulous Nimbus loved birds. In fact, he had a song bird of sorts in almost every corner in a cage. He also loved statues. Naturally, he had statues of him and his wife, Queen Skyheart Nimbus, all over the place.

Everyone was happy. Children could play happily in the village, villagers knew everyones name, and they always welcomed visitors from the world down under, who were awed by this world way above their own lands. The Nimbians themselfs had some hair too, even, that was naturally in a curl, of sorts. Though their hair was generally gold in colour, there was also some who had green hair. The royal family, however, had different colour of hair, generally. The king had brown hair, and the queen had pink hair. And everyone wore colourful, puffy clothes, to make them look more puffy, even. The Prime Minister even had a parrot of sorts on her head as part of her outfit! Infact, thats where this story starts....

Valentina sighed. Being the Prime Minister of a peaceful land was boring, boring work. She absolutly loved chaos of any sort. She got up from her desk and looked out the window towards a dark and creepy castle. She wished her country would participate with the rest of the Mushroom World against that Keep. But alas, they preferred to only fight if they were struck against first. She wished she could send lightning through the windows, maybe some sunlight through the darkness that had setteled everywhere there. But no, only the immidiate royal family were allowed to control the weather, and alls they did was usually make sure that areas got the right kind of weather, and occasionally protected areas from strong storms that could devistate them. She could only use her powers when instructed to, as were the other Nimbians.

She sighed again and looked away. She hated the stupid puffy clothes Nimbians generally wore. Every time she looked in the mirror she looked fat, instead of thin, thin, thin. And that stupid parrot hat. The King had given it to her when she became the Prime Minister. Every royal generation had the Prime Minister wear a sort of hat that represented them and what they liked. Sometimes it was a cloud, others it was simply a veil. Or maybe not even a hat at all! But no, she had to wear a stupid stuffed parrot.

She glanced over at a large black bird lazily sleeping in a corner and sighed in exhasperation. Stupid bird. It was large, bigger then her even, with a multicoloured beak, two tiny eyes, and a stupid helment of sorts, with 3 feathers sticking out, and its name was Dodo. Stupid bird, she thought to herself. It too was a gift from the King and Queen, but it was the laziest, stupidest, most useless gift she had EVER gotten, hands down.

Sighing again, she sat down. She wished she could relax all day too, talking, gossiping, feasting, and ruling. But no, she was just Valentina the Prime Minister, and she had to work, work, work. Life wasn't fair for some people, but they didn't have to work their eyeballs out, either.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when she heard a knocking on the door. Oh well, she though, at least when they die I'll become queen, she thought as she sat down, and said "Come in."

The door opened, and she was surprised. It was the Queen. "Valentina!" she said. "We have something wonderful to tell you! Actually, we were going to announce it to everyone in a few minutes, but we, as in, Cumulous and I, decided to tell you first!" She was positivly giddy.

Well, that is weird. Valentina thought to herself. It must be good news, judging by how happy she looks. I might as well find out. "Well, don't leave me in the dark, your highness. Please tell me."

"Well, you see, what I'm about to tell you, well, we've known for about two and a half months now. But, well, its getting hard to hide it now, I mean literally, so we decided to come out with it!"

So come out with it, already! You're confusing me enough as is, she thought quietly to herself.

"I'm pregnant, by 3 months!" she finally stated beaming happily. Valentina's eyes shot out, and her mouth was gaping open as she stood up so suddenly the chair toppled down. The Queen smiled and went on about what doctor she was picking, names they were trying to decide on, ect. But Valentina wasn't listening.

She was still in a state of shock, but not a happy shock. Everything she had dreamed about when they would die had been flushed down the drain. They were having a _heir. _It would most certainly outlive her, and she would never, ever, ever become queen, she'd just be Valentina the Prime Minister forever and ever. Just the thought of it made her blood boil angrily.

Finally she came from her shock, and at last put on the fake happy smile, and spoke with the fake happy voice, if she was ever going to be rid of her out of her office. "I'm very... happy for you. All I can say is... congratulations." Queen Nimbus beamed proudly and said thank you before leaving.

Valentina waited until she knew everyone had left to hear their "happy news" before angrily yelling out and slamming her hands onto the desk. Dodo woke with a start, but Valentina didn't notice or care, for she was positivily fuming. "Mark my words, that heir of theirs will regret it was ever concieved someday! And they'll regret they ever thought of concieving it in the first place, mark my words!!

She figured if Nimbus Land was turning its back on her, well, she'd turn her back first before striking! She looked down at her clothes. A new, sexy, wordrobe sounded like a good start, as she sat down and began to redesign her outfits....

Approximatly 6 months later....

"Oh, look at him, Cumulous...." Skyheart breathed softly. Today wasn't any other ordinary day. Not only was it the first day of summer, a tad after noon, today was the day their child had been born at long last. And they had a boy. A son. A prince.

The tiny being had tiny brown eyes of beautiful colour, and already tiny tufts of pink were on his head: tufts that would someday become full fledged hair. Although he was wrapped in a blanket, his teeny tiny hands rested on top of it as he stared around the room curiously, unsure if he wanted to be here or not.

"It seems a shame to call him Leopold...." he said with a sheepish grin. They had agreed long ago that if it was a boy they were going to call him Leopold. But it was clear he looked nothing like a Leopold now. Queen Nimbus couldn't help but chuckle.

"He doesn't exactly look like an Elizabeth either."

"Hmm, if anything, he looks like a marshmallow, of sorts," he said before he realised his mistake. He had called his son a marshmallow! He instantly winced, expecting a slap and scolding, but nothing happened. Instead, his wife was deep in thought.

"Marshmallow.... Thats it! We can call him Mallow. He even looks like a Mallow, it suits him perfectly."

"Mallow.... Prince Mallow Nimbus. Yes, I do belive I like the sound of that!" he said as they both kissed their son.

Valentina, who was eavesdropping outside the door, was positivly disgusted. Mallow, of all the stupid names she heard in her lifetime so far, that by far was the stupidest. "Prince Mallow Nimbus... Humph! He's going to be as stupid looking as his name. A ruler needs to be as beautiful as their name..." she muttered.

But oh well, she thought. If all goes according to plan, in one year I'll be making my first move.... She chuckled sinisterly. Indeed, a plan was already forming in her head.

And that would be just stage one.

A little over a year later....

"C'mon now, take my hand... There we go," Queen Nimbus tenderly said to her son. It was common for the King and Queen to take walks, and now, naturally, to bring their son with them. He was now a little over one now, and could toddle about, and even talk some! However, he was very, _very_, shy. If a Nimbian other then Garro or Valentina approached, he'd instantly duck behind his mom or dad, whoever was nearer. But he still liked to walk around with them, especially because he was getting better at walking every day.

The loving parents couldn't help but smile tenderly as he grasped his mothers hand and looked up at her with large, brown eyes. It was plain to see he adored them and loved to be with them. Truth be told, his parents loved to be with him too. They loved every moment of watching him play, and learn to walk, and say his first word.

So with a smile they walked slowly out into the village and began to converse with villagers. Little did they know they were being watched.

By Valentina.

She felt anger coursing through her viens as she saw little Mallow with his parents. The more he grew the more she loathed him. The only thing she might've hated more was the fact when he'd see her he'd call out "Falemtina!" and hug her leg. Falemtina! Everytime he said it she felt like he had cussed at her. He might as well have, it wasn't as bad as being tourtured by such a stupid name, she thought.

But finally, after a while of waiting, she saw what she had been waiting for: for them to dissapear into a house. She seized this moment and left the palace briskly. No one paid attention to her: she did this frequently, leave Nimbus Land and inspect Bean Valley. Actually, she did go down into Bean Valley. As soon as she arrived she was greeted by many Shy Guy's with wings that were native to the area: Shy Aways they were called. They went through Bean Valley until they reached a towering cliff with a rope ladder. When she reached the bottom, she was greeted by a large clan of bandits.

The bandits lived in Lands End and often prayed on travellers in the area. They knew hundreds of hiding places and could escape in a flash when needed. The bandits consited primarily of Birds, and the more elite Blue Birds, along with plenty of Shy Away's. Long ago they had met Valentina and she promised them riches if they helped her with a plan.

They began to murmur excitingly as they saw her. She waved her arms and they became silent: already many had learned not to upset the Nimbian Prime Minister.

"Bandits!" she called out to the crowd. "A while back I told you I'd give you many treasures if you helped me with my plan! Tonight is the night we set out and put the plan into action!!" She layed out three things: two clocks with their alarms set for seven and ten p.m., and a map.

"Here I have two alarm clocks. When the first one goes off, that is when you are to head to Nimbus Land and attack it. Just... cause mayhem. Don't kill anyone yet, I need them yet. Split into two main groups. One group will terrorize the village, the other will invade the Palace. Split into more groups then and do.. whatever. One group will carry the other alarm clock. It is set to go off three hours after the first one. The group that has that alarm clock will _immidiatly_ go to a certain area of the palace, where we will be hiding. Its marked on the map. Anyways, make noise, sound like you're really beating up on guards, really beat up on guards, what_ever_. The point is, it has to freak out the King and Queen more then ever. If it works out, they'll want me to take Mallow so as to protect him. But really we will meet at a certain point. There I will hand over Mallow to you, and you will knock me out. Yes, you will really knock me out," she repeated to the clan, which gasped at that. "It has to be real, and its the only way, unfortunitly. Luckily for all of you, I won't get mad and I have medicine that will make the headache go away. For, if we suceed, we will rule all of Nimbus Land!!!"

At that remark, all the bandits gave a wild cheer. They could see it now: all of Nimbus Land's rich's soon theirs, and more, possibly, much more.

Valentina let them carry on with their wild cheers for several minutes before signaling for silence.

"For now, let me show you the map...," she held up the map as she talked.

Several hours later....

Queen Nimbus couldn't help but smile as young Mallow tried again to build a tower from blocks. Playing with blocks was his favorite past time.

King Nimbus was thinking the same thing. Chuckling, he said "That ones going to be a real architect someday. He'll probably redisign the entire palace _and_ the village too." The both had to laugh a bit at that thought.

But their laughter was quickly cut short as an explosion rocked the castle. Everything was dead silent, even Mallow had stopped what he was doing and looked puzzelled. For a moment, no one spoke. And then-

"What in the world was that?"

"I don't know, is the volcano erupting?"

"Can't be, it was far too short...."

Further speculations were halted as there was a second and third explosion. Moments later a guard and Valentina came running into the room, both were breathless.

"Your majesties, bandits are attacking Nimbus Land!! They have Bill Blasters and spears and I don't know what else! They've already hurt several guards and villagers, what should we do?!"

King Nimbus was quiet for a moment, before he spoke again.

"Make sure all villagers are hidden in their homes and out of harms way. Protect them well! Skyheart, Valentina, Mallow, and myself will take cover. Stay safe, please."

The guard nodded nervously and went off to relay the orders. Quickly scooping up Mallow, the others quickly went deep into the palace, to a hidden safe room concealed behind a wall. Locking the door behind them, everyone sighed and sat about disscussing why the bandits would be attack Nimbus Land.

"What do they think we have here that they want?"

"Maybe they think we have a lot of treasures up here...."

"But most of them are useless to the world down under. Unless they got us confused with the Second Cloud Kingdom and think we're 'loaded'..."

"Sky Land? But how can that be possible? They're way to the east of the main Mushroom Kingdom, not west!"

"What _I_ think," Valentina stated "is that they're after something other then gold and jewels. But as to what that is, don't ask me!"

That really got them to think, but they couldn't find a solution that could be probable, not a one.

Hours gradually passed. Bed time was out of the question for Mallow, he would have never fallen asleep with all the noise.

For Valentina ten couldn't come fast enough. She had to keep herself from smirking a lot, especially once it got past nine.

And then, it was ten.

The only thing that happened when it struck ten was Valentina commented (more like complained) that they had been in there for nearly three hours now. At first, nothing happened.

But then the pounding began.

First it was far away, down the hall. It didn't sound like anything. But as it came closer, Cumulous and Skyheart realised what was happening with a jolt.

_They knew they were there._

Granted, they didn't know where, but they would. They realised how foolish it was to have the King, Queen, Prime Minister, and Prince and/or Princess hidden in one spot. If it was discovered, the King and Queen and heirs to the throne could all be assasinated.

And Nimbus Land would fall into turmoil.

So they made a heart wrenching desision that took a moment to make. They both looked at eachother and nodded sadly before picking up Mallow and thrusting him into Valentina's arms.

"Valentina, take Mallow and go! They know we're here, and we can't let them get us all.... Please, run and don't look back!" Queen Nimbus told Valentina while holding back the tears.

Mallow sensed something was not right. He cried out and reached for his parents, as if he almost knew he wouldn't see them again in a very long time.

"Mommie! Daddie!" They smiled sadly and both hugged their son.

"Its for the best Mallow. Auntie Valentina will make sure nothing will happen to you. And before you know it, you'll be with me and your mother again."

Ignoring Mallow's struggling, Valentina unlocked and flew open the door and slammed it shut again. It took less then three seconds. And she ran towards the gleefull bandits that followed her.

"Mission complete!" she said with a smirk and she help up Mallow to the bandits waiting at the rendezvous point. They shrieked and hopped with glee. Valentina quickly handed him to a Blue Bird.

"Sure you can carry him and fly at the same time?"

"Don't worry," he reassured her. "He's light as a feather compared to the loot we usually carry."

"Speaking of loot...." one brought up. "We got some nice goodies we found. Can we keep 'em?!"

Valentina thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose you can keep _some_ for realism.... I'll be giving you most of the junk later anyways. Watcha got?"

Grinning, they showed her the bags they had. She peered inside them. A pause, and then-

"You IDIOTS!!!! That is all MY STUFF!!!!" she roared. The bandits gulped and Mallow shivered in fear. He never saw Valentina like that before, and he didn't like it.

She glared at the bandits for a minute before finally replying.

"Allright, put my things back in the exact place you got them NOW. We'll talk later!" The ones with the bags gulped and flew off. She looked back to the others. "As for you.... Knock me out good and draw back, all of you. Go a little past the Land Bridge and wait for me there. They won't think to search for you there."

"Yes ma'am!" the bandits saluted. One of them grabbed its spear and winced. It swung it as hard as it could and hit Valentina's head. She immiadiatly passed out and they flew off fast.

Despite the happenings, Mallow thought flying was fantastic. He gasped and squealed with delight as he flew with the bandits through the palace, down to Bean Valley and Land's End.

They stopped a bit past the Land Bridge and set him down, eager to be rid of carrying the young Nimbian. Thats when the complaining began.

"He's so stupid looking. I bet his IQ is –20!"

"Hah, forget that, the little whelp is heavy. They must seriously overfeed him or something! He's as heavy as just one thing of loot we get sometimes!"

"Heavy and smelly! I bet they never clean him! No wonder Valentina wanted him gone!"

"Uhm, speaking of the runt.... where IS he?"

They looked around, and saw Mallow was nowwhere in sight. Panicing, they jumped up.

"Oooooh MAN. Valentina is going to have our heads now!"

"Quick! We gotta find him!!"

And so they began to hurry and find Mallow before Valentina awakened and found out he was gone.

Mallow had slipped out from under the bandits noses easily when they were discussing him. He had never been anywhere other then Nimbus Land before. And this new place fascinated him greatly. He toddled around staring at the simple sights: plants, flowers, rocks.

And cannons.

He stared fascinated at one. It was gigantic looking, and pointed somewhere. He crawled inside to see what it was like inside the cannon.

The cannon, however, sensed it had been loaded and automatically lit itself. A few moments later it fired, shooting the young Nimbian up and away.

It was pointing west, to the sea.

Back at Nimbus Land....

Valentina heard voices calling to her from the blackness. Her head was pounding terribly, like a bad hangover.

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw the concered faces of Cumulous, Skyheart, and several guards peering down at her. She groaned and sat up.

"Valentina! Are you OK?"

"What happened? And where is Mallow?"

Faking sadness, she held her head down and pretended to hold back tears.

"Oh, you majesties, I have failed you! The bandits outstripped me when I ran and cornered me here. I tried to protect Mallow, but they hit me in the head, and as I fell, I saw Mallow being wrenched out of my grasp...."

Everyone gasped. The King and Queen were struck speechless. Only one thing was running through their minds: _Mallow... they got Mallow!_

King Nimbus was the first to recover enough to give orders.

"Guards! I want everyone to begin searching for Mallow at once! Bean Valley, Lands End... Miramio Town if you can! Hurry before anything happens to him!"

The guards nodded and ran off fast. Valentina slowly stood up too.

"You majesties.... I want to look for him too, as it was my fault this happened in the first place."

They nodded dumbly, too shocked to really speak. Valentina walked off. She surpassed a chuckle. Yesirrie, her plan was working lovely....

Soon....

"He WHAT?!?!" Valentina roared to the bandits she found. They gulped and coward against a large boulder as she screamed at them, for she just heard the bad news.

"Y-you don't understand, he snu-"

"No!!!! YOU don't understand!! If that brat is wandering around out there he could be recovered and our efforts would be for nothing!" She stood there fuming for a long time before she recovered enough to talk so any guards who could be nearby wouldn't be attracted by her screaming.

"OK, look, if he's dead, I don't care 'cause he's out of our way permanitly. But if he is alive and recovered, its over. So I want all of you to scour the land, all of you. Some of you may rest at a time in Miramio Town, but thats it! You WILL find him, he may be useful yet. You could turn him into a bandit, or I could even brainwash him, or SOMETHING."

The bandits nodded quickly and dashed off. Valentina yawned and leaned against the boulder.

"Bunch of bird brains, can't even watch a stupid Nimbian...," she grumbled. "But oh well. At least I can take a nice, long nap...." Yawning, she closed her eyes and began to sleep.

Meanwhile....

Mallow was no longer in Lands End.

The cannon had luckily blasted him into a Goonie. The confused bird had caught Mallow on its back, somehow, and began to head the direction he had come from. Mainly, east.

It was a very warm summer night, and no breeze, so it was easy flying for the Goonie. Not to mention Mallow was not cold.

It was very late now, so with a exhausted yawn, Mallow finally fell asleep. His dreams were simple ones, of his home back in Nimbus Land....

Shortly before dawn....

It was a sleepless night for many Nimbians in Nimbus Land, and it would be a sleepless day to come. Bean Valley, Lands End, Miramio Town, and even some of Barrel Volcano were scoured to find Mallow. They saw some bandits occasionally, but they all eluded capture.

And Mallow was no where to be seen.

The Nimbians were becomming very frantic by now. Many dangerous monsters lived in Lands End OTHER then the bandits, it was the reason Nimbians discovered and lived ever more in the giant cloud hovoring far above. A baby wouldn't stand a chance there unprotected.

But no one was more stressed or upset then King and Queen Nimbus. Queen Nimbus had taken to fractically pacing around and snapping at anyone who tried to speak to her. King Nimbus became fidgity and edgy and spoke in the shortest answers possible to the guards' unhappy reports.

Very shortly before dawn, Queen Nimbus finally did snap: she collasped on the ground and broke out crying. As King Nimbus ran to his wifes side, it began to rain outside, which was prone to happen when Nimbians cried.

"Oh Cumulous, I'm so scared! I'm afraid some monster will get to him before one of us does, or the bandits do terrible things to him.... I just can't bear the thought of something happening to Little Mallow!" she sobbed to him.

King Nimbus pulled his wife into his lap and, to her surprise, began to cry too.

"Oh, Skyheart, I'm scared too.... If anything happens to him...." He shook his head, unable to continue. In the few words he said, he had said everything he needed to say.

The skies over Mushroom Kingdom....

The Goonie shook its feathers in irritation as rain fell onto it. Rain, ugh! It hated rain terribly.

Normally it would fly above the clouds and avoid the rain that way, but it remembered it had young cargo on its back (still asleep) and it would be terribly cold that high. So it did the next best thing: began to fly down and find shelter down there.

Unfortunitly, one of Bowsers Lakitu's wasn't fond of rain either, and decided to ride the storm out above the clouds. Not watching where it was going, it slammed right into the Goonie, it spinning off course.

"Watch were yer flying!!" it yelled out to the Goonie as it flew off. But the Goonie had flipped and swerved when it was hit, and began to fly off fast somewhere else, without realising something very important.

It had dropped Mallow!

Mallow was still asleep, actually, as he fell. Slowly his eyes opened and he saw the ground come closer, closer..... He saw something green sticking from the ground.... He was going to hit it.....

Actually, it was a warp pipe, and he went right through it and appeared in a underground sewer. He blinked. This was certainly new to him.

Hopping down from the pipe, he stood and looked around. It was dark and dank here, but drier then the outside world. There was water running nearby and a tunnel loomed ahead of him.

Curiosity got the better of him as he began to toddle down the sewers. A sign said "Kero Sewers: Keep Out!" but he ignored it. He couldn't read anyways.

He found it fun in the sewers, despite the smell. There was a lot of things to climb over a play around. It was more fun then the palace!

And then he saw it.

It was a basket. It must have washed away from a child during a storm, for it was new, and the blankets were soft and fuzzy. It was along the edge of the stream, unmoving.

Mallow toddled over to it and stared. He couldn't say why, but it reminded him of his bed in Nimbus Land. Suddenly he felt a longing to be back up in the clouds with the palace, Garro, Valentina, his parents, and everything else he knew so well.

He crawled into the basket and pulled the blankets up on him and began to whimper, and soon cry. He didn't want to be there anymore. He wanted to wake up and be in his moms warm comferting arms and see her sweet smile again, and his dad to pick him and and talk with him, and for both of them to play with him.

Outside, it began to rain harder....

Time passed, and because of the extra rain, the stream got larger and larger, and the basket started to move. Mallow's crying soon ceased when he noticed: this was fun! It began to go faster and faster still. There was a bright light up ahead. It got bigger, and bigger, and-

Suddenly he was outside and a giant waterfall loomed ahead. He went over the falls and plundged down below, into the darkness....

Frogfucius sighed as he peered out from the shelter tree. It was a rainy, cloudy day, and it looked like it wasn't going to clear up.

He chewed on some crickets and sighed again. He hated days like this. The tadpoles and young frogs always stayed underwater when it rained. And his friend Lakitu was at his own home, and seldom came out when it rained. In other words, he was lonely.

What Frogfucius really wanted was a friend he talk to always and play with. But that isn't going to happen, he always told himself.

Staring absentmindly he watched the waterfall grow bigger then usual, with more water too.

"River must be getting bigger," he muttered to himself as he watched it out of sheer boredom. And then he thought he saw somthing come out of the falls and dissapear underwater for a tiny bit. He thought nothing of it until he saw it reappear.

"I guess I didn't imagine it...," he murmed as he saw it clearly. It was a basket. "I guess a kid left it outside and the rain swept it away.... It even has the doll inside it still." He thought to himself.

But as it drifted closer he saw it wasn't a doll. He stood up in shock as he realised what it was and stepped to the edge of the island. When it was close enough he reached out and plucked the basket from the water.

Peering inside, he saw he was right: a baby was inside, tucked into the blankets, and very much unconcious.

Frogfucius gently removed it and cradled it in his arms. It was pale yellow and had a little tuft of pink hair, now lopsided because it was wet. Its puffy arms hung down by its side, and it was wearing pale blue and yellow pants, tiny pink shoes, and a belt.

He peered at the belt closely. "Mallow" was engraved on the buckle, in tiny, clear letters.

"'Mallow'.... What is 'Mallow'? Is that your name? Is it your mom, your dad? The person who made your belt?"

Very slowly it stirred and opened his large, brown eyes. He stared at the figure looming over him, and blinked.

Frogfucius sat down on a chair, and stared at the child, mystified.

At first he thought it was an abandoned newborn, but saw it was too big to be a newborn.... he conformed these thoughts when it yawned and he saw many teeth in its mouth. It had to be a year old, maybe a little older.

His next thought was it wandered off and had gotten lost, but that didn't explain the basket, not to mention it was well too cared for.

Other things mystified him too. Who was Mallow? And what was the creature? He had never seen anything like it before. The closet thing to it was a Lakitu cloud, but they weren't alive. It didn't seem to make any sense!

"Or maybe it does...," he mumured aloud. Mushroom Kingdom was fighting against Bowser's troops currently, and there were always strange new creatures appearing to help him. Perhaps this species was a new troop unrevealed yet, and perhaps the parents of this child didn't want him getting wrapped up in the war too. So they put him in the basket and sent him down Midas River..... It made sense!

"I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but I'm going to take care of you now, you're much too young to send out alone." Smiling, he gently stroke the childs cheek. "From now on, today is your birthday... and your name is Mallow!"

He watched the child and saw it smile, and then giggle. He reached up with one of his hands and touched Frogfucius.

"Daddie!!" it, Mallow, said with happiness. Frogfucius smiled at him.

"No.... I'm... your Grandpa." Mallow giggled and the rain slowed down and finally ceased.

"Gampa!" he called out with glee.

Frogfucius was amazed. Did the kid.... No, it had to be a coiencidence! No one controls the weather, he told himself.

Gently holding Mallow, he laid the blankets out of the basket to dry and wrapped him in clean ones as Mallow said "Gampa!" again.

He hated to lie, but Frogfucius knew if his species did turn out to be in Bowsers army, it would mean big trouble. Once the war ended, he would tell Mallow the truth, and he could find his homeland someday, maybe.

But for now, he was already fond of young Mallow, the tadpole!


	2. Mallow and Mario Meet

Yay, chapter two is up! This is a sort of preview as to how long the others will be on average. Yeah, thats right, on AVERAGE. But don't worry, with my Christmas Vacation just days away, they'll be up in no time! Sit, back, relax, and have fun!

Oh, a little note: You'll notice it won't say what Mario is doing or thinking sometimes. The other party members will be like this too when they arrive. Not 'cause I hate them, but because its a MALLOW story. Not Geno, not Bowser, not Toadstool, not Mario. Sorry to dissapoint any of you.

About ten years later....

A young frog stared at the clouds about him. This frog was different then what most people would imagine a frog to look like. His skin was pale, pale yellow and not moist and "slimy", but puffy and soft. His dark brown eyes reflected the sky above him. His hands, currenly behind his head supporting it, were not flat and webbed, but large, with several large, puffy fingers. He donned poofy pale blue and yellow pants, with a belt too. His feet, also puffy, were currently in large, pink shoes. He had a strange, pink curl for hair, which rested on his forhead above his eyes.

Mallow the frog sighed. It was a beautiful late spring morning. A soft breeze weaved through the ever wispearing trees around the small lake. Birds flew through the air, singing beautiful songs. Even the clouds far above seemed happy. For all Mushroom Kingdom children, school was out at last, and they now had summer vacation. He should be happy, sleeping in, making arrangements for sleepovers with his buddies.

But he wasn't.

Mallow was a loner at school. No one wanted to be friends with a frog, and a strange one at that. He was constantly bullied and never talked to anyone.

Or, make that, nearly anyone.

For he did have a friend, a young, female, Koopa Troopa everyone hated (and feared) too. But they had become best buddies since day one. And they planned to spend the summer having fun, like all their previous summers.

But her parents changed those plans.

Her father was an archaeologist. Often he dashed left and right about Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the world, leaving his wife and daughter at home. But summer came and he took them both with him to far east Mushroom Kingdom, and he had to stay behind.

And that was why, instead of being happy it was summer, he was depressed and lonely.

Footsteps approached from behind, and he sat up and turned around. His grandfather Frogfucius stood before him.

"Mallow...," he said softly. "It is quite early in the day, and there is no school. Whatever are you doing up?" he asked.

"I... I couldn't help but wake up early. Habit, I guess," he replied. Althought he tried to keep the sadness out of his voice, he didn't try hard enough.

"Mallow, you are troubled. Please, tell me what is wrong." Frogfucius talked as he sat down, more level with Mallow, to be more casual.

"Its.... my friend. I really wanted to play with her, but she had to go.... I wanted to go with her too, but I couldn't.... Its not fair, Grandpa."

"I see. I thought that what was troubling you." Frogfucius peered carefully into his grandsons face. "Are there no other children you could play with? Nothing else you can do?"

"No, Grandpa, all the other kids hate me. And I don't want to study or make music...," Mallow stated firmly.

Frogfucius stared more into Mallows young face. His adoptive grandson was a mystery in many ways. He was very intelligent and polite from the start. He began to read earlier then others his age could, and when he arrived, he was already saying "please" and "thank you". Despite the fact he looked very sinkable, he made an excellent swimmer. And he could make beautiful music too! That part was owed to Toadofsky, who lived nearby and composed songs. On the other hand, he was very shy and not willing to open up to others. But that wasn't even half of the mystery.

Despite what he thought in the begining, after a while with Mallow, he simply could not ignore the signs. Mallow could indeed control the weather. When he cried, it would rain. Being happy made it nice and beautiful out, often. When he was mad, thunder and lightning would appear. And other personality sensitive things too. But, having no idea who this more and more confusing species this was, Frogfucius had no way of teaching Mallow to really control his powers....

"Grandpa, what are you thinking about?" Mallow interupted his thoughts and brought him back down to earth, so to speak.

"Hm? Oh, nothing really...." Frogfucius looked at the sky for a moment before turning back to Mallow."

"Nice day, isn't it?"

Mallow nodded his head in agreement. "Very nice!" Frogfucius smiled and stood up.

"You see, my boy, I ordered a Cricket Pie from the shop in the main Mushroom Kingdom the other day, and today is the day it should arrive. However, I am getting older, and it would take me a very long time to make the simple trip all the way to main Mushroom Kingdom and get it. So, I would like to ask you to fetch it for me, Mallow."

Mallow grinned and stood up. "Don't worry Grandpa! I turn Twelve in a few weeks, I can handle a simple trip to the main Mushroom Kingdom!" Frogfucius nodded and walked to one of his desk drawers. Opening it up, he pulled out a shiny new, rare, Frog Coin that he made recently.

"Before I give this to you, listen carefully. It will cost this one rare Frog Coin to buy it, nothing less. I want to make sure you don't drop it, lose it, or give it away on the way. And be sure not to hurt the Cricket pie on the way back, either," He instructed Mallow as he handed it to him. Mallow put it in his pocked and patted his grandfathers hand to reassure him.

"Don't worry Grandpa, I'm not irresponsible. I be back as soon as I can!" As soon as he finished talking, he dashed into the lake and swam to the shore nearby. He waved. "Goodbye Grandpa!!"

Frogfucius smiled back and waved. "Hurry back now!" He watched Mallow walk along the edge of the lake. Soon, he was lost in the brush and trees as he walked along the path.

Mallow had gone from depressed to ecstatic. It felt great that his grandfather trusted him enough to get something like a cricket pie all the way from the main town in Mushroon Kingdom!

He hummed as he skipped along the path he knew from all the trips he had taken to the main town with his grandfather, not to mention going to school. Going up the hill past the falls, he knew that the path was called Bandits Way because a long, long time ago, bandits used to live there and prey on unsuspecting travelers.

_But there haven't been any bandits here in a very long time. They left here long before I was born,_ he reminded himself as he walked along.

It took him 30, maybe 40 minutes by the time he reached the halfway point, a clearing with a warp pipe leading to Kero Sewers down below.

"Okay!" he said aloud. "If I kept going on the path, it'd take me maybe another 40 minutes to get to town...." He looked to the right down the path as he said it. "But if I go to the left, it shouldn't take me more then 20," he said, looking to the left, into some bushes and trees, this time. He stood there for a few minutes thinking.

"I've made up my mind! Short cut all the way it is!" he grinned and began to go left. However, something caught his eye and he stopped and looked up. Far away in the sky, he thought he saw something. Something BIG.

"What in the world...?" He stared at it a few moments before running to a tree and scrambling up it to reach the top.

Poking his head out of the canopy, he looked around. He saw a good view of the Mushroom Kingdom: Midas River and Falls, Forest Maze beyond that and Moleville mountain beyond that to the left. To the right he saw Bandits Way, the Castle, and a sloping area called Grass Land that led to more wilder section of Mushroom Kingdom way to the east.

Looking more north-north west, he saw a vastly unexplored region typically called "Bowser's Lands" for indeed a great deal of that area was under the Koopa tyrants control, but his true land of power was called Dark Land: the sun never shined there.

And above it, he could see, on a vast rock with Bowsers face carved into it, was Bowsers Keep.

He saw nothing really out of the ordinary as he looked. _But I think I saw it far above...._ he reminded himself. Looking up this time, he suddenly saw it.

A giant sword heading for Bowsers Keep.

"H-h-holy tadpole!! What IS that?!" he shouted in fright as he saw it. As he watched, it crashed into Bowsers Keep with a deafining crash and shake: he could feel it all the way on Bandits Way!

As he cried out, he noticed something else. Seven stars had fallen too. One, he saw, was light blue. It landed somewhere near Mushroom Way, he noticed. Another was green. Watching its path he saw it fly off and land in the Forest Maze. A third, an orange one, flew off towards the Moleville direction. A fourth and fith one coloured purple and sea-blue landed somewhere beyond what appeared to be Boosters Tower, he guessed. A sixth one, a firey red one, flew waaay far off, Lands End way. The Seventh, he saw, was bright yellow. It landed directly in Bowsers Castle... and vanished.

Stranger still, he saw three different shapes that weren't stars. A red and blue human figure landed somewhere by Mushroom Way. An orange and green figure landed somewhere along the edge of Bowsers Land. And a pink human figured headed straight for Boosters Tower.

_Those shapes.... Was that Bowser, Mario, and Princess Toadstool?! And what in the world is the sword...?_ He stared off thinking for a minute before clambering down.

"I just can't stand there looking like an idiot...," he said once he reached the ground. "I have an errand to run!" With that, he took off to Mushroom Kingdom.

Around the same time, back at Nimbus Land....

Queen Skyheart Nimbus sighed softly as she stood about an empty room. The unoccupied room used to belong to little Mallow, who was never recovered. Heart wrenching as it was to have the room empty but without an occupant, she and her husband couldn't bear to let it turn into a guest room either.

These past ten years had not been kind to Skyheart and Cumulous. There seemed to be someone within Nimbus Land passing information to the Bandits that took Mallow long ago, for they had gotten several notes, and one of them threatened that if they had another child, they'd do the same to it as they did to Mallow. But the notes even hinted _they_ didn't have Mallow either. So, it was unsure what had happened to him exactly.

Stranger still was the weather. A young Nimbian could not control their feelings so they didn't directly connect to the weather. So a young Nimbian could dangerously control the weather partially, but didn't know how to stop. They had to be taught by their parents directly, and mastery didn't happen until they were three. But, it often rained when no one, children and adults alike were sad or crying. Sudden storms too, on clear sunny days. Other times there were angry electrical storms when no one was mad. And they didn't originate in Nimbus Land either, but somewhere in Mushroom Kingdom. The evidence pointed to one thing: _Mallow was somewhere out there alive._

Granted, no one seemed to know where, but Queen and King Nimbus still remained hopefull he'd be found someday.

Her lonely thoughts were interuptted with King Cumulous Nimbus yelling her name.

"Skyheart! Skyheart! Come quickly!!"

Running out of the room, she saw her husband beckoning her. They ran to the unfinished balcony at the back of the palace and peered out.

To the east, they saw a large sword comming down fast above Bowsers Keep. Watching, they saw it pummel down and strike it directly! As they watched, three figures that they saw distinctly for a moment as Mario, Bowser, and Princess Toadstool fly off in three seperate directions. Following them were seven large stars that outstripped them and landed in what appeared to be various sections along Mushroom Kingdom.

One, they saw, landed directly into Barrel Volcano down below.

Silence followed before they began to speak again.

"What in the world WAS that?!"

"I haven't a clue.... And what WERE those stars?"

"Beats me.... Unless it was one of Bowser's plans backfired..."

Leaving the balcony, they walked slowly back towards the throne room, talking seriously. Whatever it was, they had a very bad feeling about it all.

Elsewhere in Nimbus Land....

"So, everything is all set?" Valentina eagerly asked the single Bandit, a Shy Away, she had managed to smuggle into Nimbus Land. 

"Absolutly Queen Valentina. We planted Smilax in nearly all the warp pipes in Bean Valley and agitated all the bees!" it replied happily.

"Its not enough. Knock down as many vines as you can leading into Nimbus Land. And get rid of the rope ladder leading down to Land's End. I don't want anyone from Miramio Town coming into Nimbus Land should they get suspicious.

A pause, and then-

"Queen Valentina, you are behind the times. Miramio Town changed its name over six years ago. Its Monstro Town now."

"Grrr, whatEVER. No one is to get into Nimbus Land anymore! You hear me, NO ONE!!" she shouted. The Shy Away and nearby Dodo flinched. Valentina turned to Dodo.

"And you! Stay away from all the windows and doors! No one is to see you until its time! Remember that now!!" she said angrily as she slapped him to make him understand.

"Repeat to me the plan again Queen Valentina...," Shy Away asked innocently. She sighed in exasperation before she repeated it again.

"I am going to lock King and Queen Dumbis into a small room. I go outside, and in short tell the other Nimbians not to set foot inside the castle. I fire all the guards and you all become my new guards and never let anyone in! As soon as enough days pass, I'm going to say the King is dying, and announce Dodo as Prince Mallow!" She said with a accomplished grin. Shy Away eagerly nodded.

"Its a good plan! I'll go and tell everyone to get ready."

Valentina nodded. "Yes, do that. I'll take care of the King and Queen." Shy Away opened a nearby window and dashed down to Bean Valley as fast as it could. Valentina turned to Dodo.

"You! Stay here! You HEAR ME?!" she commaned to Dodo. It nodded a few times before Valentina was satisfied. "Good!" was all she said before she turned, left the room, and slammed the door behind her.

Quickly she jogged to the throne room. Putting on her fake-excited face (but maybe not so fake anymore) she burst into the room and up to the surprised King and Queen Nimbus.

"Ah, Valentina," King Nimbus smiled as he greeted her. "What is it? You look terribly happy."

Valentina took a moment to compose herself (this time she wasn't faking it, totally) before responding to him.

"I found Prince Mallow!!"

It had the effect she was looking for. In a moments time they were both awed by this news before managed to respond.

"Mallow?! Little Mallow?!" they both asked at once. Valentina grinned.

"Yes! I told him to wait outside, come on!" She lead the excited King and Queen out of the throne room, past the small room where guards stood guard and guests waited to speak with them, and into the hallway that lead to the main part of the castle. A closet door stood ajar on one side of the hall.

"Ah, he must of heard us comming and became shy and darted in there. Go on, go see him, I'll let you fetch him," Valentina told them slyly. She knew they would have no reason to doubt her, and she soon saw she was right. They went into the closet without hesitation.

King and Queen Nimbus stepped into the closet and looked around. Two cots were set up, and the closet was cleared of all space. It felt more like a prison cell then a closet now.

"Valentina?" Queen Nimbus called out to Valentina, her voice full of doubt and sadness. "There is no one in here...."

"On the contrary!" she called back. The door suddenly swung shut and a clicking noise followed it, indicating the door had been locked. They were trapped inside!

"Valentina!!" King Nimbus angrily pounded on the door. "Whatever cruel joke you are playing it is not funny! Let us out NOW!!" Valentina's wicked laughter was heard outside before she spoke to them.

"Fools! You are now trapped inside. The door is well locked, don't bother trying to get out! You see, you ruined all my dreams of becoming queen once you had that brat of a son! So I concocted a plan: befriend the bandits, have them take Mallow, and I will become queen!!"

They stared shocked at the door, unable to respond. Valentina continued on.

"I waited a year and when Mallow was a little over a year old I had the bandits attack. I told them to come down that hall at ten, you see, and have you scared into giving Mallow to me so I could take him to safety! But instead of running away from them I ran to meet them and gave them Mallow and told them to knock me out. It worked so far, they left without any problem. But then the runt got away and they failed to recover him! For all I know and care is that he's dead"

"S-so you you've been planning this for ten years?" Queen Nimbus nervously asked. Valentina cackled before she responded.

"Indeed I did! I will keep you guys here for many a day yet, but once enough time passes, I will have you killed!"

"But.... Why Valentina? We didn't have Mallow so we could have a heir.... We just wanted a family...."

"Hah! You can't pull that one on me. Whether you wanted a heir or not you got one and thought you could squash my dreams! And it looks like I proved you wrong!"

King and Queen Nimbus stood there in shock before Valentina told them one last thing.

"Oh, and don't bother to use your powers to alert the Nimbians something is not right, remember crazy weather can happen when a Nimbian is sick. And besides all that, no one will be allowed in the palace. I bid you goodbye for now, chumps!" she walked off laughing wickedly to herself and yelling at various guards she encountered they were fired. King Nimbus sighed.

"It seems hopeless, doesn't it? She won't be a good queen... I fear all our ancestors worked for to make Nimbus Land what it is today will be for nothing now...," he sadly told his wife.

"Its not totally hopeless, Cumulous.... Remember what she said? She doesn't know if he's dead for sure either. And all that strange weather in Mushroom Kingdom these past ten years.... It must be Mallow! He's alive in Mushroom Kingdom, I know he is!"

"You do have a point.... But he will have to hurry before its too late... not much chance that is there? Unless...." King Nimbus wondered aloud.

"Yes, yes! The Stars are always listening. Maybe if we wish hard enough...." Queen Nimbus had caught onto his idea.

They each grabbed eachothers hand and closed their eyes. Simutainuosly they wished: Oh, please let Mallow find his way home...."

"Fellow Nimbians!!" Valentina called out in fake sadness to the crowed gathered around the palace. "I have terrible news for you.... Our magnificant rulers have become very ill!! No longer are they able to rule Nimbus Land!"

Nimbians looked to eachother and murmured fearfully. Valentina called out to them again.

"Silence! Because of this illness, as Prime Minister, I will take over their duties until they become well. I also do not want any of you inside the castle! You make too much noise and they need their rest! Furthermore, I am reliving all current guards of their duties, for now.... But the new ones will do just as good as job anyways and will take good care of their majesties!" She whistled and waited. Less then a minute later all the bandits had arrive, much to the shock and fear of the Nimbians.

"Valentina! Its... its the bandits!!" one called out to her. Valentina quickly responded.

"Fear not! They are no longer bad, and you will not come to harm. However, if you force your way into the palace, they WILL use force. Anyways, shows over, back to your bussiness!" She turned and walked into the palace, bandits behind her, though two stayed behind at the main door, not letting anyone in or out.

"Hah! That was too, too easy. Now, let me assign you all your shifts and places and we'll be just fine...," she said once they were safely inside. However, she soon shortly came face to face with several ex-guards and workers blocking her path!

"Valentina! You're up to something, and as loyal workers to the King and Queen, we demand to know what they are!!" once yelled to her. Valentina snapped her fingers and they found themselfs surrounded.

"Silence! I'll lock you up for that for un-loyalty to the rightful Queen!" She turned to the bandits. "Strip them of their keys and lock them up! And report to the throne room for your duties!" She turned and walked away before stopping and turning back for a moment. "Oh yes, and bring me a maragrita...." She turned away again and cackled openly. Oh yes, her plan was almost complete!!

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom....

"Almost there!" Mallow announced happily to no one in particular as he saw the town up ahead. The rest of the trip was uneventful, save for a few Goomba's he saw, but they always left him alone and this time was no different.

He began to walk the last couple hundred feet when he saw something unusual. A large, purple dinosaur of sorts with a top hat was pacing around the path, blocking his way into Mushroom Kingdom! Stranger still, he had a large bag over his shoulder that looked stuffed full of goodies! Cautiously he approched the dinosaur. He turned and looked at him as he drew near enough.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" the dinosaur yelled to him. Mallow shivered: it had a mouth full of fangs and sharp claws. He seriously hoped he wouldn't pick a fight with him.

"Mallow, sir. What are you doing blocking the path?"

"For your information I am a guard to prevent suspicious types like YOU from entering!" he angrily told Mallow.

"But... there wasn't a guard here the other-"

"SHUDDAP!! The times have changed! Now, what bussiness do you have in Mushroom Kingdom?!"

"An errand on for my Grandpa, sir! He asked my to get him a Cricket Pie!" Mallow replied, full of pride.

"Yeah, whatever.... Hey LOOK!!!" the "guard" suddenly said pointing somewhere behind Mallow. Mallow blinked a few times before saying anything.

"Look at _what?_"

"The, uh, big, evil, giant monster right behind you!" the guard replied, almost annoyed. Mallow simply cocked an eyebrow.

"If there was a monster behind me, I'd be in its shadow. Furthermore, I don't feel its breath. And it would've eaten me already," Mallow replied with a slight smirk. The dinosaur growled angrily.

"Grrr, I HATE smart runts like you! Plan B!!" It ran up to Mallow with great speed, did a simicircle around him before stopping in the same place he was before, smirking. "Hah! That was too easy!"

"Too easy? All you did was-" Mallow suddenly realised something and checked his pockets with a gasp. Sure enough, the coin was gone: the dinosaur had taken in when he ran around him in those few seconds. "You theif!! Give back my Frog Coin!!"

"Sorry kid, the coin's mine now!!" The dinosaur ran off into Mushroom Kingdom, Mallow not too far behind.

"Stop!! Theif!!! Get back here!!!" he yelled out angrily! The crook dodged around houses and bushes, but still Mallow was not shaken off. "Come back here!!!" he shouted continuosly as he constantly chased him. Near one of the ledges however Mallow's luck ran out. Instead of jumping down from it like the crook did, he tripped on a stone and fell face first down. By the time he had gotten up again the theif was no where in sight.

"Oh NO!" he moaned. "I lost that dirty reptile of a theif! Now I'll never get my Grandpa's coin back!" He sniffed miserable. "N-no, I can't cry! Big boys don't cry! B-but I failed my Grandpa!!" He began to cry as soon as he thought of how dissapointed his Grandpa would be. Instantly the sunny day clouded over and rain began to pour down.

As he stood there crying and lamenting his misery, someone layed a hand on his shoulder.

"Kid, are you allright?" Mallow slowly opened his eyes. A mustached man in a cap with red shirt and blue overalls was standing before him, soaking wet.

"G-gee sir, you're soaking wet! I'm sorry, give me a moment...." Mallow closed his eyes and thought of the sunny day he had woken up to earlier. Almost instantly the ran stopped, and the sun came out again. The man looked amazed at Mallow who blushed and shrug.

"I don't know how I do it.... Really sorry about earlier... but I feel better now after the cry." He paused for a moment and looked thoughtful. "But.... I kinda forgot why I began crying in the first place while I was thinking all these sad thoughts...." The man groaned and facefaulted. Suddenly he remembered as he saw him on the ground, face down.

"Oh, now I remember! My Grandpa asked me to get him the item he ordered here. But right as I was going into town, that crook took my coin and I failed to get it back! The jerk...." While he was talking, the man stood up and dusted himself off. Before he had a chance to say anything, a nearby Mushroom woman spoke to him.

"Hey Mario!" she called to him. "How do you take care of that Bowser?!"

"What I do best, I fight him, using a little help with my jump!" Mario lept up into the air in one of the leaps he was so famous for. The woman grinned.

"Now THATS what I like to see!" she told him before walking off. Mallow stared at him in shock.

"Wow!! You're THE Mario? I know all about you! You got more jump in you then a box full of frogs!" Mario smiled.

"Thanks kid. So, whats your name?" Mallow smiled.

"My names Mallow, I come from tadpole pond. I'm a frog, but my jump is shameful...." Mario opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and shook his head.

_He was going to say "I'm the weirdest frog he's ever seen and that I look nothing like a frog." I know he was. I wish I looked more like the frog I'm supposed to be. I also wish I wasn't such a crybaby...._

"Hey, Mallow." Mario interupted into his thoughts. "I've been noticing a lot of people here are missing their things to that crook too, and I saw how well you chased him earlier. I could use someone like you to help me catch that theif." Mallow grinned.

"You really mean it?!" Mario nodded. "Allright then! I won't fail you, I promise!!" Mario smiled at the engery the youngster had.

"First, lets buy us some items to help us, just in case we need them." Mario said to Mallow as they walked into the shop. The Shopkeeper turned as he heard them come in, and smiled when he saw Mallow.

"Ah, Mallow. What was keeping you? I was begining to worry." Mallow seemed sort of sad again now.

"Well, you see-"

"Don't worry, I already have it and everything. Old Frogfucius even told me when he ordered it you'd pick it up for him. He seemes to know EVERYTHING doesn't he? Give me a moment and I'll have it." The Shopkeeper turned and began to walk to his shelves.

"Listen...," Mallow said. "The truth of the matter is, uhm, you see... the coin was stolen." Mallow grinned sheepishly as the shopkeeper looked at him and shook his head regretfully.

"Dear, dear.... It looks like we can't trade now? Such a shame.... Old Frogfucius will be so disapointed...."

"Don't worry. Mario here is going to comfront the theif. I'm going to help him too!" Mallow seemed pleased with that little fact.

"Ah, if Mario is going to help you, you'll have the coin back in a jiffy!" The Shopkeeper turned to Mario. "So then, what is it you need?"

"I'd like three Mushroom's and two Honey Syrup's please." The Shopkeeper layed the items out on the counter.

"Allright, that will be 32 Coins." Mario counted the coins out and handed them to the Shopkeeper. The Shopkeeper smiled at the two of them.

"Thank you and goodbye! Good luck you two!"

"You're welcome and thanks!" Mario and Mallow called out to him as they left the shop and began to walk to a nearby Toad, a watchman for the town.

"I know him, he makes sure no one strange enters town, like one of Bowsers flunkies." As the Toad saw them approach he began to grow excited.

"Mario!" he said once they got close. "I have something to tell you, sir!"

"Well, what is it?"

"Its him! I saw him just a minute ago! He zoomed by me, did you see him?!

"Did he look something like.... this?" Mallow asked him. He quickly drew a figure of the dinosaur theif on the dusty ground. The watchman nodded as soon as he saw the drawn figure.

"Why yes, exactly!!"

"He's the one who took my coin! Why didn't you stop him?!" he asked.

"Because I left my bazooka at home! Sheesh...," he replied sarcastically. Mallow and Mario both facefaulted at this.

They both got up instantly though and dusted themselfs off. Mario was about to tell him something, when-

"Get back here, you jerk of a theif!" As soon as they heard it, the dinosaur ran into view and cackled at the mushroom man.

"Har har! Youse mugs'll NEVER catch me! A SNAIL could outrun you morons!" He took off at amazing speed past Mario and Mallow and the Toad yelling "Whenever you feel like getting something stolen, just call for Croco the theif!"

The trio felt windswept after Croco running past them. Mallow felt as dizzy as Mario looked just from watching him run.

"Thats HIMMMMM!! Hurry, lets get him!!!"

"It looks like he ran onto Bandits Way!" the Toad told them. "I guess its being inhabited by bandits again...." Mario nodded.

"Thanks, c'mon!" Mario and Mallow both ran onto Bandits Way. It took them a few minutes, but they soon found him rumaging through his sack.

"Hey!" Mallow pointed at the sack. "I bet he put everything in there!! Lets grab him!" Croco jumped at the surprise of being found and turned to them.

"Oh, lookie what we have here!" he said laughing at Mallow. "Run home to mommie kid before ya get hurt!" he said moments before taking off.

"Looks like the areas swarming with monsters...," Mallow noted to no one in particular. Mario turned to him, a serious look on his face.

"You've ever done fighting before, Mallow?" Mallow nodded.

"I know some things, from school." If Mario thought that was an odd thing to say, he didn't show it. Instead he smiled.

"And I was getting worried for nothing! Allright, I'll watch your back and you watch mine, OK?" Mallow nodded.

"OK!!"

"Then lets get going!

Taking off again, a couple of Goomba's decided to get in their way.

"No one gets through without OUR permission!" one yelled to them. Mario whipped out a hammer.

"Not if I can help it!" He said before bringing it down on a Goomba's head. It knocked it out instantly, causing the other to run with fright.

"Huh, guess these guys are more bark then bite...." Mallow noted as they took off down the path again. Mario nodded in agreement at that.

Shortly after they saw Croco again, once again rumaging through his sack. He turned towards them and laughed at Mallow again.

"Hah! You couldn't jump t'save your life kid, so this is goodbye!" Croco took off by jumping onto a small hill and onto a block grabbing a coin laying there before running off. Mallow looked chestfallen.

"He's right... And there are some nasty looking monsters down below" he said nodding to the K-9's. Mario just smiled.

"Don't worry, if you fall I'll catch you." He jumped onto the hill and helped Mallow up before jumping to the block. "Its easy, see, just follow me!" Mallow glulped.

"Well, allright!" he said nervously before hopping to the block. Instead of hitting the ground, his feet touched the block: Mario was right! "This is actually kinda easy!" he said as they both hopped from block to block. They both avoided the K-9's and soon reached the opposite hill and clambered down.

"See, told you that you could do it!" Mario told Mallow. Mallow couldn't help but blush at the compliment.

Going a little further, they saw Croco again rumaging through his sack. He jumped at the sight of both of them still after them, but slung the sack over his shoulder.

"You're a bunch of persistant little buggers, but I'm a hundred miles ahead of ya!" he yelled before taking off. Mallow simply shook his head.

"You know, I'm begining to wonder if he isn't a velociraptor, with that speed." Mario nodded in agreement.

"Whatever species he is, he's a fast one, c'mon!"

They both ran after him, dodging trees and mounds blocking their path. Although Croco was constantly in sight, he always seemed to be one step ahead of him.

Soon, they saw him on another block, with one circling around it. In front of him, way above the ground, was a treasure box. The only wait to reach it was the blocks.

Croco, however saw them again. He growled and jumped down from the block.

"Ooooh, that treasure box is tempting, but nows not the time. But you've better give it up!" He took off running again. They watched him go off dodging lots of K-9's.

"It doesn't look like he knows this path well. He's going the wrong way, theres a dead end over there. I think we might have him!" Mallow said excitingly to Mario. Mario grinned at this news.

"If thats the case, then we have time to grab whatevers in that box!" He jumped up to the block and helped Mallow up. Once again the other block began to circle around them.

"Wait for it... wait for it...." Mario told Mallow. They both waited until it was under the box before leaping for the block. The both reached the block and hit the treasure box. They both began to glow and sparkle.

"It was a Super Star!!" Mario told Mallow. "C'mon, we're invincible as long as this lasts!" They both took of running and hitting the K-9's that charged them. Each one was KO'd just from a punch from both of them. Although soon the effects wore off, all the K-9's were knocked out. The duo couldn't help but grin at eachother.

"That was great! I feel stronger then before now!" Mario nodded in agreement.

"So do I. C'mon, I see him!" he said pointing to Croco. They both ran up to him. He jumped up again this time and looked around. This time he knew he was trapped.

"Dead end! And they won't give up either! I'll just have to hide!" he said before running foreward and hiding in some bushes. Mario turned to Mallow.

"He can't stay in there forever, he'll have to come out or else we'll catch him. C'mon! We might be able to sneak up behind him"

Although he ran before they reached the bush, they both followed him as he ran to a different one, though they took a longer route and soon were behind him. Tiptoing quietly, they walked right up to him before tapping him in the shoulders. Croco lept up and turned, completely stunned. It took him a moment to compose himself.

"Ha! Your eyes are much faster then your feet! At your rate it'll take ya... a HUNDRED more years to catch me!" he laughed before running off into some bushes again. Mallow and Mario both turned to eachother.

"A hundred years or not, he just made the same mistake as before! Lets catch him!" They both ran after him, again taking a long route to circle around him. Once again they snuck up behind him without his noticing until they tapped him on his back. He looked more surprised then before.

"That was the fastest one hundred years of my life!" Mallow said with a laugh, causing Mario to laugh with him in agreement. Croco growled.

"Yeah, well, at your rate, it'll still take ya... FIFTY more years to catch me!" Laughing again, he went dashing off into more bushes. Mario and Mallow both shook their heads thinking one thing: He made the same mistake AGAIN.

Using the same technique as before, they once again snuck up on him. This time he was utterly shocked.

"You AGAIN?!"

"Us again. Over a hundred and fifty years old and we're still kickin'!" The two friends laughed again. Croco growled very angrily.

"This is getting old! It'll STILL take ya...." He never got to finish. Mallow ran to the other side of Croco, visibly angry with thunder rolling in the distance.

"Give me my coin NOW!!!" Croco was begining to look frightened now.

"ENOUGH! Ya got me fair and square. I'll give back everything I took...." He stepped a little ways away from the two of them and rummaged through his sack before laughing suddenly. "What, ya actually belive me? I was LYING!!" At those words he grabbed a bomb, quickly lit it and through it at the fighting duo. They only managed to dodge it just in time.

"Well," Mario began. "If its a fight you want, its a fight you GET!" And with that, they lept at Croco.

"Hah!" Croco smirked. "It'll take more then dumb luck to beat ME!"

Mario ran at Croco with his hammer, but Croco dodged just in time, and slashed at Mario. He missed slightly, though, and Mario didn't get more then a scratch on his arm.

While he was busy with Mario, Mallow ran up to him and punched him. This distracted Croco long enough to let Mario do someting he does best: He flung a fireball at Croco, hitting right in the tail.

"Ye-OWCH!!" he yelled. He quickly stamped out the small fire that lit on his tail and glared at them. "You little...." Croco ran at Mallow and slashed at him angrily. Mallow cried out in fear and pain as he slashed him. Suddenly the slashign ceased as Croco got grabbed by the tail. Opening his eyes, Mallow saw Mario and Croco going head to head, trading punches and jabs. Mallow saw Mario desperatly needed help to take on the vicious dino.

"Mario! I'll help you!" Mallow called out to the hero Plumber. Quickly he thought of an idea. "Oooh, lets just hope this works... I'm still no good at this...," he muttered to himself with a moan as he began to concentrate. A cloud formed over head and without warning, lightning bolts came down and struck Croco. Croco yelped in pain, and in fear.

"That kid calls down the SKY?! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...," he muttered to himself. Mario wacked him on the head with a hammer causing another yelp.

"Should've thought of that before you began stealing from everyone!" Mario told him. Mallow nailed him in the gut as he talked.

"Yeah!" Mallow couldn't help but add. Croco was begining to get furiuos.

"Allright, no more Mr. Nice Guy!!" He rummaged around his bag and pulled out several large bombs. "Sayanora, kid!" Croco lit one of the bombs and threw it at Mallow. Mallow only managed to dodge a direct hit, but he still was very close when the bomb went off. He went flying and hit a nearby tree with a smack before falling down. He heard another bomb go off and Mario landed next to him. He grinned weakly at the plumber.

"I'm OK.... Are you?" Mario nodded.

"Yeah, but if we stay here too long we won't be."

"If we dodge the next bomb and double team him, we might have him."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

They waited a few moments until they saw the bomb flying towards them. Leaping up, they both ran left and right and the bomb missed them entirely, though they did get hit by flying rocks from the explosion. Croco looked to the left and saw Mario running towards him with his hammer. He looked to the left and saw Mallow, fist outstretched. By the time he realised to run forward it was too late, he got nailed on both sides. He stood there, dazed before Mallow ran forward angrily.

"Give me back my coin, or we'll belt ya again!" He punched Croco in the jaw and grabbed at Croco's bag and got his hand in it. His hand enclosed around a coin shaped object, and when he pulled away, he saw he got luckier then lucky: it was his Frog Coin!

"Yeouch!!" Croco yelled. He growled angrily at the young frog. "I'm gunna pay you back in spades for that, kid!" He wacked Mallow in the gut with the sack, knocking the breath out of him before dumping all of the stolen contents out at his feet. "Go on! Take yer grubby old coin!" He turned and ran off to the west, yelling "Adios amigos!!"

Mallow stood up, panting, but grinning.

"We did it Mario! We got back my Grandpa's coin and all the goods! Now I can finish my errand and we can return everything that was stolen." Mario smiled and took Mallow's hands into his.

"I would have never stopped him without you Mallow. Thank you." Mallow blushed.

"Awww, it was nothing... And look! Everything anyone lost is here too!" They quickly pocketed everything for safe keeping and were about to head off until Mallow stopped Mario.

"Hold on a sec. I learned something new the other day... we'll feel up to our old selves in no time, just hold on...." He stood there concentrating and a cloud appeared, a small one with a happy face on it. It hovoured over them and rained down. Every drop of water made them feel better until the felt as good as when they entered Bandits Way, then it dissapeared.

Mario stared at Mallow amazed. Mallow blushed.

"Its just one of the weird things I can do. Like crying and it rains, thats one of them."

"I've never met anyone who could do that before," Mario admitted. Mallow couldn't help but smile.

"Its my parents. They gave me to grandpa when I was one because of the Mushroom Kingdom war with Bowser. They didn't want me getting hurt or anything, so they put me in my Grandpa's care until they could come collect me. I guess they still find it too unsafe to come get me...." They were walking along Bandits Way by now, heading back to the town.

"So, you don't know where your parents are?"

"No, I don't. But I don't dwell on it. They'll come back when they don't fear for me living with them anymore, and besides, I like my Grandpa, and all the tadpoles back home. They're all the family I could ever want."

Mario smiled and looked as he was about to respond, but suddenly grabbed Mallow's arm and stopped walking, even though they were close to town now.

"You hear that?" Mallow nodded. They could hear cries of pain and fear, and much laughter

"Yeah. Its coming from town!" The two of them ran as fast as they could the remaining distance to the town. And when they reached it, they were horrified at what they saw.

What appeared to be Shy Guy's on springing minature swords were attacking the town and harassing all the Toads!

"No! Stop! Get away from me!!" the watchman screamed as one bounced after him laughing.

"Now why would I want to do that?" the... thing said. "Bouncing is fun, and I can't STAND anyone who doesn't bounce!"

"Oh yeah? Bounce on THIS!" Mario called to the creature before he jumped on his head and began to jump on its head. The creature yelled and bounced off in a real hurry.

While Mario took care of the thing, Mallow helped up the watchman.

"Sir, are you allright?!"

"Yeah.... Thanks Mario!" he called to the plumber as he walked over to him. "They came in from Mushroom Way shortly after you left after the crook, a whole hoard of them! Call themselfs "Shysters"....

"Do they have a leader?" Mario asked the watchman and he nodded eagrly in response.

"Yeah! I think he's in the castle.... Most of them went there. It looked like he was carrying something.... Oh, here, take this as thanks." He handed them 5 Coins each. Mario and Mallow nodded in acknowledgment of the gift.

"The castle you say? Thanks and your welcome!" Mario and Mallow quickly walked off, which was difficult with all the Shysters bouncing around.

"Mallow...," Mario began. "I think I could use your help again before we finish your errand. Are you willing to help me." Alls Mallow could do was smile.

"Of course I will. The shop looks closed anyways and it wouldn't be right to leave everyone in this much trouble....." Mario smiled and patted his arm.

"I knew I could count on you, c'mon!" They both headed out into the Shyster infected area. Mario already had a plan in mind. "Allright, I'll take them out with my hammer, you work them over with your ThunderBolts!" Mallow gave him the thumbs up to show he understood.

They both took off at the same moment, ready to pummel the Shysters. Out of the corner of his eye, Mallow saw Mario jumping onto the ledge and saving the lady earlier that made Mallow realise it was THE Mario.

_I can't let myself get distracted,_ he reminded himself as he let down several of the Thunderbolts, frying a group of Shysters gathered around a man. The Toad smiled in thanks before rushing back into his house. Mallow looked around for more when he heard screaming comming from a different house.

"I'm comming, hold on!" Rushing inside, he saw an entirely family of Toads cornered by a whole group of Shysters. The mother Toad saw Mallow and waved her hands frantically.

"Help us!" she cried to him. "Mario just went upstairs to save our younger son! Please, do something!!" she begged to Mallow.

"I'll do my best!" he told her. Charging up, he released another wave of Thunderbolts. The few that were still standing after his Thunderbolts were quickly finished off by a few quick punches. As he finished them up Mario came downstairs, and grinned when he saw Mallow had taken care of the Shysters.

"I don't know how we can thank you Mario," the father Toad told him. "You and your friend!" Mallow blushed at being called a friend of Mario. The mother Toad handed Mario two bottles filled with Honey Syrup and they both left the house.

"Mallow, drink this," Mario told him as he handed him one of the bottles. "This will make you feel better enough to do more of your special attack. Mallow nodded wearily as he drained the bottle, as did Mario.

"Thanks, I needed that. So, where too?"

"The Castle. From what I heard, theres many more inside, and their leader too!" Mario told him.

"Allright, lets go!"

They both charged into the Castle and saw it swarmed with Shysters. Running foreward, Mario pounced on one chasing Toad around. The Shyster gave up the attack and ran off, while they talked to Toad, who was still terrified.

"Now THAT was scary. Everyone took cover in the Princess' bedroom, but I kinda got left behind, some others did too. I hope no one got hurt...."

"Don't worry, lets go see how many got left behind first." The trio headed up to the Princess' room, but halfway there, a large gang of Shysters blocked their path.

"None go by US!" the shouted to the new comers.

"Oh yeah?! We get by whoever we like!" Toad shouted to the Shysters. Mallow and Mario each took two of the four Shysters blocking their path, and in no time they were charred to a crisp.

They continued up into the Princess' room only to find it blocked by larger, more tougher Shysters.

"Not so fast pal!" one declared.

"Look at them! They can't even bounce! Maybe we should BOUNCE ON THEIR HEADS!!" the other laughed. While laughing, the Shysters lept at Mario and Mallow and began to jump on them.

"No! GET OFF ME!!" Mallow yelled out as one bounced on him over and over again. Soon he grew angry that he was being treated like this. _Just like Croco and the kids from school_, he thought to himself. His building anger charged an even better, more concentrated Thunderbolt then before. The larger Shyster collapsed in a heap and he got up. He smiled weakly at Mario, who had charred the other Shyster seconds before.

"I.... got kind mad." That was all he stated to Mario and Toad. Toad shook his head in disbelief as he passed them into the room.

"I did not see a kid make lightning...," he muttered as he walked inside. Mario and Mallow looked at eachother and laughed for a moment before following him into the room.

Inside, all the other Toads were talking happily with Toad.

"Save by Mario again! How can we ever thank him enough?" one said.

"Its a good thing he came when he did!" said another.

"Oh no!!" another shouted.

"What, what is it?" The other three asked. The one that shouted turned to Toad.

"Did the Chancellor come with you when you ran?" Toad shook is head.

"No, I didn't see him.... Oh my gosh! That means he's still in the Throne Room! With that big guy!" Toad realised. The others began to murmer in fright until Toad pointed to Mario.

"We don't have to fear. Mario can save him for us! Him AND his new friend!" Toad told the others.

"He does have a point...."

"Yeah, Mario will get rid of that scum and save the Chancellor! Compared to fighting Bowser, it'll be a snap!" Toad smiled and turned to Mario and Mallow.

"We're counting on you! You AND your friend!"

"Don't worry," Mario replied. "You can count on us!" The fighting duo turned and left the Princess' bedroom, with a new objective: getting rid of all the Shysters and saving the Chancellor.

"Mario... is it just me, or do all these Shysters seem... metallic?" Mallow asked Mario on the way to the Throne Room.

"I noticed the same thing too Mallow. These being, whatever they are, are made out of metal."

"Strange. What do you suppose that means?"

"I don't know, but hush. The Throne Room is right through these doors."

As quietly as possible, they slowly pushed the door open and snuck in. The Throne Room had Shysters bouncing all over it, though they were standing in the areas where the Toads would stand if they were there. In front of the throne was a GIANT creature like the Shysters on a giagantic sword. Only, unlike the Shysters, the being on the hilt of the sword did not resember a Shy Guy.

"Where do ya suppose everyone went?" asked one Shyster.

"Who cares?" a second said. "We have ourselves a new home, gang!"

"We can bounce around all day long! And theres no one here to stand in our way!" said a third.

The fourth said "Yippie! Lets bounce the days away!" At that suggestion, they all began to bounce and jump. Until Mallow and Mario stood in the middle of them.

"STOP!" yelled Mallow. "This isn't YOUR Castle. Give it back to the Toads and get out of her!" The Shysters all stopped bouncing and stared at the newcomers.

"NOT SO FAST, PALS!" the fourth said.

"They can't even bounce, pitiful!" the fith said.

"Hey!" said the sixth. "How about we BOUNCE ON THEIR HEADS!!" Two Shysters laughed and lept at Mario and Mallow at the same time. Ducking, the two of them managed to avoid being bounced on and the Shysters hit eachother in midair, and fell back to the walls.

"That was a close one...," Mario muttered as he stood up. _My thoughts exactly_, thought Mallow.

The big guy in front of the throne lept foreward with a giagantic bounce and landed in front of Mario and Mallow with enough force to shake the room. Mallow gulped, it was the biggest thing he had ever seen.

"Listen up, gang!" the large sword spoke. "These guys are putting a stop to our little fun. We can't let that happen, now can we?!"

"No way, Lord Mack!" the Shysters responded. _Mack...? is that his name?_ Mallow wondered.

Laughing, the other four Shysters bounced forward one by one, surrounding Mario and Mallow.

"You're asking for it!"

"You're gonna get it!"

"You guys picked the wrong people NOT to bounce with, pals."

"How 'bout some fat lips and black eyes to go with that ugly mustache and hair?!"

Without warning, the Shysters and Mack lept at them. Luckily, Mario and Mallow managed to duck out of the way just in time.

"Mallow!!" Mario yelled. "Take care of the Shysters! I'll deal with Mack!" Mallow nodded and charged at the Shysters.

"Ooh, look!" a Shyster called to his buddies. "He's asking us to beat him to a pulp!"

"Lets get 'im!!"

While they were talking however, Mallow had charged up and sent a Thunderbolt in their direction. The shock distroyed them all in just one blow. Mallow turned, and ran back to Mario who was alternating between jumping on Mack, and sending Fireballs in his direction.

"Mario! Do you need any help?!" he called out to Mario as he ran to join him. Mario nodded his head.

"Yeah! This guy isn't a pushover! They both ran forward at the same time, fists and hammers ready. Mack, however, managed to leap in the air and dodge their attacks.

"Hah! You'll have to do better then THAT!" he yelled before coming down hard enough to make them lose their footing and fall. While they were getting up, Mack sent his own fireballs in their direction. The two of them ran around dodging fireballs, though they managed to avoide some, they still got hit by many more.

"Ye-OWCH!" Mallow yelled. "That burns!"

"Are you allright?!" Mario asked. Mallow nodded.

"Yeah.... he got me good though," Mallow said as he rubbed the back of his head. Mario turned his head and pointed to the entrance of the Throne Room.

"Looks like we got more company!" he said as he pointed to the new throng of Shysters pouring in. Mallow cracked his knuckles.

"You fight Mack, I'll get the Shysters!" Mario nodded and they both ran in seperate directions. The Shysters immiditaly began leaping at Mallow and throwing fireballs. Mallow had to put all his dodging skills to the test as he dodged fireballs and Shysters left and right. But everytime he got some with his Thunderbolt, more came in through the door. _This will never end...._, he thought to himself.

Finally, after ten minutes, Shysters no longer longer poured through the door. Mallow, however, was exhausted. Panting, he made it back up to Mario, who immidiatly handed him another Honey Syrup. Mallow drained it withen a moment, and felt strong again almost instantly.

"Hold on, I'll recover us...." Mallow told Mario. He concentrated, and withen a moment another cloud with a face appeared a few feet above their heads. Once again, it rained the same healing rain as before down upon them, recovering them. Once that was taken care of, they turned to Mack, who was in pretty bad shape too.

"Grrr, you may be healing yourselves with your fancy-pants items, but I got the stamina to survive without it!"

"Mallow," Mario began. "He doesn't have much energy left. If you use your Thunderbolt, and I use one of my Fire Orbs...."

"-Then we should be able to finish him! Yeah, lets do it!" Both friends charged up, and simutainuosly, they released their attack, hitting Mack.

"Nooooo! I CAN'T LOSE TO THESE MORONS!" In a final scream, Mack exploded, leaving nothing left but a pile of coins.

After a moments pause, the two friends looked to eachother, their faces alight with grins. Then they both cheered.

"We did it! We got rid of the Shysters AND that Mack thing!" Mallow cheered.

"Once again I would've never been able to do it without you, Mallow. I am in your debt," Mario told him. Mallow blushed.

"Aw, gee it was....." He suddenly pointed to behind the Throne. They failed to see what was behind there because of Mack blocking the view. But a large star was floating behind it. A light blue star.

_Its one of the stars I saw fall down from the sky!!_ Mallow realised. As he watched he saw it float up and circle around Mario and himself before hovouring above Mario for a split second before falling into his hands. As it did so, they watched as it spun so rapidly, it vanished.

Before they had a chance to react, the two Shysters that failed to jump on them earlier came out from hiding and looked around.

"This is not good!" said one.

"No, this is not!" said the other.

"The puffy one and mustached one are strong!"

"VERY strong!"

"We must warn the boss of this!"

"Lets get out of here, then!" Before they had a chance to stop them, they Shysters leapt out of the Throne Room and bounced off. Mallow blinked.

"The BOSS?! Theres a guy higher above MACK?!" he wondered aloud.

"Apparently so...." Mario replied solemly. Before either of them could do anything else, the Chancellor crawled out from behind the Throne.

"A-are they gone?!" he said looking around. Once he saw they were all gone, he sighed with relief. "Gracious! Its a good thing you came Mario! Once again, Mario comes to the rescue!" Standing up, he straightened out his robes and stood before them. "But, can you tell me, who in the world WERE those-"

"Chancellor!!" Toad cried out from the doorway. Running in, with two others behind up, they ran up to the Chancellor excitedly.

"Sir! Thank goodness you're OK!"

"We thought those monsters got you for sure!" Hearing their excited chatter, the Chancellor smiled and nodded at Mario.

"Mario! So it was YOU who got us through that terrible incident! We owe so very much to you for this..."

As Mallow watched, he saw all the other Toads come in and assemble in what he guessed to be their usual positions, with the Chancellor at the front. After they assembled, the Chancellor began to speak again.

"First the Princess gets abducted and we can't get her back, and now THIS! Its almost too much to bear! I wish I knew what our next move was...." As he stood there, watching the others think, he came up with an idea.

"Excuse me, sirs...," he said, making the others jump, and the Chancellor looking at him with surprise. _I guess they didn't notice I was here after all_, he thought to himself, but he didn't let that bug him and continued on.

"But, we can ask my Grandpa to help. He knows... EVERYTHING. He taught me everything I know now."

"Excuse me now...," said the Chancellor. "But WHO in the world ARE you?" Mallow bowed shortly in politeness.

"My name is Mallow, sir. I come from Tadpole Pond...." The Chancellor looked to Mario.

"Mario, is this true now?"

"Of course it is," Mario replied. "He helped me not only save all of you, he helped to get back all of the items taken from a crook...." The Chancellor smiled and nodded in appreciation to Mallow.

"It sounds like you have a lot of skills for a young one. Well, any friend of Mario's is always welcome here!" The Chancellor turned back towards Mario. "As I was saying before, you are our only hope. Please, we need you to rescue the Princess immidiatly! Perhaps you should take Mallows advice and go with him to see his grandfather." Mario nodded.

"It sounds like we have more of a plan now. C'mon Mallow, lets go visit this Grandpa of yours!"

Mallow grinned and nodded.

"OK! It looks like I'm really in your debt now too. Lets head over to Tadpole Pond and see Grandpa! He can help, I know he can!" The two now-friends turned and left the Throne Room and soon headed out of the Castle. Destination: Tadpole Pond!


	3. The Truth About Mallow, Enter Geno

Chapter Three's here! I'm pumping them out at a faster rate then I expected. But I probably won't finish the SMRPG portion of the story until the end of my vacation, perhaps. I am hoping I do. But anyways, enjoy this new chapter! 

Chapter Three: The Truth About Mallow: Enter Geno

Soon....

"OK! Thats one Cricket Pie for Grandpa! He's going to be so excited...." Mallow said to himself as he walked out of the shop in the main town in Mushroom Kingdom clutching a package. Mario, seing his friend was done with his errand, walked up to him.

"Ready to go?" he asked. Mallow nodded.

"Yeah. Did you manage to find all the items owners?" Mallow asked, reffering to the stolen goods. Mario smiled.

"Indeed I did. Some of them were so glad to get their things back, they paid me, though I told them not too...."

"Really?! What did you get in total?!" Mallow asked as they began to walk out of town. Mario thought for a moment.

"I'd say 30 coins, give or take a few." Mallow whistled in shock.

"Now THOSE are some happy Toads!" Mario just laughed at his friends shock.

"Hold on," Mallow said, stopping a few minutes out of town. "If we go off Bandits Way and go this way...," he said, pointing the way he came to town in the first place. "...Then we'll reach Tadpole Pond sooner!"

"How much sooner?" Mario asked. Mallow thought for a minute.

"I'd say, taking the path all the way, maybe an hour and twenty minutes. But taking the shortcut fully is about 40 minutes at most." Mario pondered these facts for a few minutes.

"Well, I think we're in a hurry, lets take your shortcut!" Mallow smiled.

"Thanks, its this way!" he said leading Mario down his own path.

The two friends walked along, enjoying the late Spring now-afternoon day, and eachothers company. _Mario is so nice,_ Mallow thought to himself. _Although I wish I could stay with him after I take him to Grandpa, I can't.... It wouldn't be fair of me to leave him all alone, and he probably can't wait to ditch me afterI take him to him._

Soon, about fifteen minutes passed. They came upon a clearing with a warp pipe in it. Mallow pointed to the warp pipe.

"Thats the warp pipe that leads down into Kero Sewers. Going through there is a snap, shouldn't take us much more then fifteen or so minutes to get through.... Althought Grandpa always tells me to watch out for this "Belome", whoever that is...." Mario jumped onto the pipe and smiled.

"Belome is probably some shady salesguy or something, I wouldn't worry. Besides, sewers are my specailty!" As soon as he finished those words, Mallow watched as Mario went down the pipe. Mallow shrugged as he jumped on it too.

"Well, I sure hope this time I don't meet Belome!" he said aloud as he too warped down.

Moments later he appeared next to Mario, looking around the sewers.

"Its pretty dark down here, we might have to watch for monsters like in Bandits Way," Mario warned Mallow. Mallow just shrugged.

"I never seen any down here before, save the occasional Boo. Kinda like how I never see this Belome guy." Mallow began to trudge down the tunnels with Mario in tow. He seemed thoughtful, however.

"You never know, you just never know...." Suddenly Mario ducked. "Mallow, look out!" he yelled. Mallow ducked just in time, a Boo had almost nailed him good. It came back for another round, a Shadow in tow with it this time.

"Mario! I've heard about Shadow's, our punches and your hammer won't effect them!" Mallow warned Mario. Mario cracked his knuckles.

"Then I'll just have to use my Fire Orb!" Charging up, he blasted both the Boo and the Shadow with the fireballs he used back in Mushroom Kingdom. Both squealed in injury and fled. Mario couldn't help but turn towards Mallow, eyebrow raised.

"Hardly attack, aye?" Mallow grinned sheepishly.

"Never attacked me before. I guess I had better warn you now fish live in the water, so be careful." Mario nodded.

"Right. I'll use my Fire Orb on the ghosts we meet, you use your Thunderbolt to fry the fish that attack, deal?"

"Deal!"

Going deeper into the sewers, they found something else un-expected: Rat Funks, mice that lived in sewers and other dark places. One tried to attack them, but Mallow kicked at it and it ran. Mallow shrugged at Mario.

"I guess they live here, though I never seen one before.... Why do you suppose there are more monsters lately?" Mario shrugged.

"I'm not sure.... Maybe the boss of that Mack guy we met is stirring them up." Mallow looked thoughtful about this.

"Maybe...."

Deeper they went into the sewers. They did fight some more monsters, but they never posed a real threat. Soon, they came upon a strange thing, a switch on the floor. The two friends looked at eachother and shrugged.

"I have no idea what it will do, I've never seen that switch before." Mallow stated simply. Mario looked at it.

"Well, lets find out, shall we?" Before Mallow replied, Mario had jumped on top of the switch. As he did so, there was a rushing sound of water for a minute, and then, silence.

"It..... sounded like all the water was drained," Mallow said quietly. He looked out to the main tunnel: sure enough, all the water was drained from the sewers. Then he noticed something else: an old, slime covered Warp Pipe were the water used to be. He tapped Marios arm and pointed to it. Mario nodded.

"I saw it too, shall we try it?"

"Can't hurt to try, it might be an even better shortcut then before!"

Jumping down into the now drained tunnel, they went to the Warp Pipe and jumped down it. They arrived in a strange room: it was a long, large tunnel, so long, they couldn't see the way out at one end. At the other was a steel gate blocking the way. Standing before the gate was a strange monster that resembed a dog, almost, with yellow skin with red runes upon it, and big fire-hose length tongue drooping out. Except, not only was it more rounded, and stood on its hind lends, it had four, great big, watching eyes.

Mallow shivered. He had never seen this creature before, and he knew his expression showed it, because Mario didn't even bother to ask this time.

As Mallow watched, he noticed its eyes were closed and it was breathing in and out slowly and deeply. _Its asleep...._ he finally realised. He sighed and relaxed at this new revelation.

Mario looked at him strangly when he saw Mallow relax. Mallow pointed at the sleeping beast and began to speak.

"Its asleep, we don't have to worry... and I think this THIS is Belome, it must be"

"Are you sure?" Mario asked, unsure. Mallow however seemed confident.

"It's eyes are closed for one, and it would've seen us long ago. And its breathing so slowly, no one breaths like that unless its asleep." Mario seemed to accept these facts and walked up to it now. He couldn't help but peer at his tongue.

"Man, is that a fire-hose, or his tongue?!" Suddenly he froze. Mallow looked at him, puzzeled, then looked at Belome and he too froze.

Its large nose was snorting and sniffing the air, and its breathing was more rhythmatic. And its four, large eyes were open, peering back and forth between Mario and Mallow. _Oh SHOOT!_ Mallow thought to himself. _We woke it up!_

"Urgh.... so.... hungry.... I need a snack...." He took a few steps closer to the fearful duo and looked at them a moment more before speaking again. "And YOU'RE it!!"

Without warning his tongue lashed out at Mario and Mallow. Screaming, Mallow managed to run from it just in time.

"We're NOT food!!" he angrily told Belome. Belome acted as he did not hear those words and began lunging at Mallow, who screamed and ran away from him.

"Hey!!" he heard Mario yell. "Eat THIS!!" He heard Mario use his Fire Orb and blast Belome with the fireballs, stopping him in his tracks. Mallow turned around as quickly as he could and released Thunderbolts at Belome. He paused for a moment and shook his head before turning again towards Mallow.

"My oh my! Room service has been so kind to me! Giant marshmallow for lunch! I need my bib." Mallow gulped and shook openly. Belome stomped up to Mallow and began to lick him over and over again. Mallow screamed and ran away.

"MARIO HELP ME!!!!" he screamed. Through his fearfulness, he also felt guilty that he wasn't doing such a good job to get rid of Belome himself.

From behind, he heard Mario run up to Belome and wack him with his Hammer good. He stopped running once again when he saw he stopped and again, and turned to look behind him. Belome was now charging Mario, apparently mad.

"Get your own snack!!" he yelled as he thrashed at Mario. Even with all the fireballs Mario was fireing, they still weren't enough to hold Belome back, even though he took them all head on. _I gotta help him!!_ Thought Mallow as he ran forward, realising some Thunderbolts, hitting Belome. Belome paused and turned to Mallow, so stood there angrily.

"Leave him alone!!" he yelled to Belome. "Who do you think you are, thinking you can just eat whoever you want?!" Belome licked his lips and began walking over to Mallow.

"Oooh! I can't take it anymore!! The hunger... THE HUNGER!!!" he cried out, like he was starving to death. His tongue thrashed out suddenly and wrapped itself around a surprised Mallow.

"Eww!" he yelled. "Its all NASTY!" Suddenly, however, his disgust turned to horror as Belome opened his mouth and dragged his tongue. Withen a few horrifying moments, he was in Belomes mouth.

Mallow screamed in pure terror in this dark netherworld as he felt himself in Belomes mouth. He screamed, cried, and struggled with all his might, but he fear he was not really awake but unconcious inside his belly and doomed.

Suddenly, without warning, he found himself laying on the ground in a pile of spit. _Did he.... spit me out?_ He wondered. Looking up, he saw Belome standing there, looking pretty hurt. Groaning, he slowly got up, aided by Mario.

"That was really SCARY! Not to mention disgusting," he muttered. He would've said more, but Belome began to speak.

"Even though you defeated me, you still haven't beaten me! Beware.... the flood." With a mighty "POOF" he managed to vanish into thin air. Mallow would've commented on how they were now rid of him, except, he seemed to have conjured a switch while he was standing there, one that went up when he dissapeared. He just shrugged.

"Belome must've been lying when he said water would come gushing out of here...." As he spoke, the gate that Belome was standing in front of went up. As it did, the roaring sound of rushing water filled their ears. Mallow gulped.

"Is it just me, or do you hear something?" he asked Mario, hopeful he would say the latter. Mario nodded.

"I do, it sounds like.... rushing water...." They both turned to eachother, each one looking equally horrified as to what it meant. Quickly running, they jumped on the gate and slowly brought it down. But it was too late. The water poured through the still very open gates and swept them both away.

Mallow struggled in the water, but soon made it to the surface and saw Mario break the water too. Mario waved to make sure he saw him. Mallow waved back to signal he was seen and managed to swim over to him, dispite the swift water. Despite this little problem, Mallow couldn't help but smile.

"Well!" he yelled over the roar of the flood. "I guess this saves me a thorough bath after being covered in Belome spit!" Mario laughed for a moment, before suddenly pointing to a growing bright light in front of them.

"It looks like we're comming to the end of the tunnel!" he shouted. Mallows eyes grew wide.

"Midas Falls! Brace yourself, its a long drop to the bottom...!!" Moments later, the went flying out the tunnel, and down Midas Falls.

"Mallow... remind me not to take one of your shortcuts EVER again," Mario said as they climbed to shore after being pitched over Midas Falls. Mallow laughed and shook himself dry as he clambered up next to Mario.

"I dunno, I thought that was kind of fun! Oh, I found this when he landed, here." Mallow handed him a green Koopa shell. Mario shook it and nearly a hundred coins fell out. Mallow's eyes widened.

"Wow, that was lucky! What about the shell though?" Mario studied it a little, before kicking it into a tree with a "nok". He smiled.

"It'll make a good weapon, I can use this "NokNok" Shell. Would you like the coins?" he asked Mallow. Mallow shook his head.

"Nah, you keep them, you'll need them on the rest of your journey...." He stood up and motioned Mario to follow him. "C'mon, Grandpa lives this way!" Silently Mario got up, pocketed the coins, and began to follow Mallow. Mario followed him along the edge of the small lake, though it was always hidden by the brush. Mallow turned to him after a few minutes of walking.

"Don't worry, its not much farther. I think Grandpa will be glad to see us too." As he spoke, the brush thinned out and they stood on the clearing near the shore of the lake.

"It seems empty. Is there anyone here?" Mario wondered aloud.

"Don't worry, the tadpoles probably sense you're here and are frightened by the new comer. I'll talk with them." Mallow walked along to the edge of the lake and stood there a few moments before a tadpole popped out of the water. It looked to Mario first and began to speak.

"Hi sir, can I help you?" It turned and saw Mallow. "Mallow, your back!" it cried happily. "We heard all about your adventures with Super Mario! You guys beat up Belome, didn't you?" Mario nodded and stepped foreward.

"Yes, we did for he posed a little problem getting here." He would've said more, but Mallow interrupted.

"Wait, you guys know about that?" The tadpole nodded and Mallow turned to Mario. "See Mario, the waterways of the world bring news to us here, thats how Grandpa knows everything that we should need!"

The tadpole had a revelation. As Mallow watched it grew shocked and addressed Mario again.

"Are... are you really THE Super Mario?"

"Yes, I am," Mario replied.

"Hey, everybody!" the tadpole yelled. "You'll never guess who's here!!" At his words, seven more tadpoles came out of the water and watched Mario. _They're as shocked as I was_, he noted to himself as he watched them chatter.

"He's the real thing!" said one. "But he doesn't look like anything we'd thought he would..."

"They do say he can jump better then a froggie. I wonder if its true...," wondered another. At those words all the tadpoles turned and looked at Mario. Mallow smiled sheepishly at them.

"They just want a quick deminstration, they only want to see if its true." Mario smiled and in response did one of his amazing renouned jumps. Instantly all the tadpoles began to cheer, and even Mallow couldn't help but to grin. Even with all the cheering, a voice carried over to the duo.

"Well, grasshopper... What's new?" The tadpoles gasped in shock and dove underwater, and Mallow's eyes grew wide. He knew Mario was probably giving him an odd look, but didn't notice.

"Grandpa!!" he called back. "Mario's been helping me!"

"Yes, child, I know," Frogfucius replied solemnly. "That rainstorm we had recently... that was YOU, wasn't it?"

At those words, Mallow bowed his head, blushing like mad, wishing more and more he wasn't a crybaby. As he did so, he heard muttering over on the island and knew instantly what was going to happen.

"Mario...," he wispeared. "Frogfucius is going to pretend to float over to greet us, just go along with it." He then turned and watched his Grandpa "float" over, curtosy of a little help by Lakitu.

"Welcome! So you are Mario, yes? I am Frogfucius. You have come to seek wisdom from me, have you not? I've been waiting for you now, yes. Indeed, "old wise people" can give very good advice to those in need of it. But how rude of me, let us get comfortable and THEN we'll talk!" Frogfucius then began to "float backwards", though still facing foreward watching Mallow and Mario.

"Tadpoles!" he called as he floated back. "Don't just float there! Make yourselvs useful! Form a bridge for Mario and Mallow to cross without getting more wet!"

At those words, the tadpoles lined up to the island, and Mario and Mallow managed to hop across to the otherside. _Thanks to Mario I don't have to get wet this time!_ He thought to himself as he crossed.

When they reached the otherside, they saw Frogfucius sitting at a table and beckoned them to sit with him.

"Please, sit down in my sanctuary and partake of my wisdom, children!" he told them, happy to have a visitor like Mario.

Mallow decided Mario seemed a little hesitant at this offering and pulled him up to the table. Frogfucius began to speak almost immidiatly.

"Hmm, let's see.... That "Smithy" character that appeared in Bowser's Keep is quite the formidable one, yes? And, Mario, you wish to rescue the fair Princess quickly, do you not?"

"Yes, indeed, sir," Mario replied. "Its for the best that its done quickly."

"Alas, if only you knew the truth...! You see, Toadstool is no longer there!"

Mario's eyes grew wide with this information and looked shocked indeed. Mallow stood there with a revelation. _Those non-star shapes I saw... they WERE Mario, Bowser, and the princess!_

"Relax, young one," said Frogfucius. "Please, let me explain. You were rescuing Toadstool from Bowsers Keep. And after defeating him, JUST as you were about to rescue Toadstool... you heard a loud "crash" and saw a huge sword split the sky!" Frogfucius leaped onto the table, making Mallow and Mario jump in surprise. "WOOSH! Out of the blue! And the shock sent the three of you flying." Mario nodded rapidly to show "yes, exactly!"

"Well, Bowser and Toadstool are still lost out there, in the Mushroom Kingdom, blasted far from the crash, yes. Now...," he jumped off the table and peered at Mario. "I know you want to rescue the princess immidiatly, but you must take care of Smithy first. His underlings are wrecking havoc in our fair world! "Mack" which you both defeated in the castle was just one, there will be many more following, some are already here."

"Grandpa!" Mallow intterrupted. "I almost forgot to tell ya something! We found a great big star in the castle after we defeated Mack. Do you know what it was, and why it was there?"

"A star?" Frogfucius pondered this for a minute before speaking again. "Most interisting. This may sound like an illogical fairytale, but I belive shooting stars can grant wishes.... And now, more then ever, I belive they will play a bigger role then ever against the fight versus Smithy. Quite a situation we have on our hands, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir, indeed it is," Mario nodded in agreement.

"Everything sounds so dire and serious.... I guess Mack was only the first of many more, Mario. Some'll even make Bowser seem NICE, I bet," Mallow said as he stared into the waters of the lake.

"Mallow, you speak as if these things do not concern you," Frogfucius scolded him. "I want you to accompany Mario on his journey too, he'll need you."

"What now?!" Mallow turned around as he stared at his Grandpa. "Grandpa, you can't be serious, what are you talking about? I only went on an errand for you, it was only by chance I met up with Mario! Besides, I'm only a simple little frog. This journey isn't for me! What can a frog do to help a famous hero?"

A few moments after Mallow finished saying that Frogfucius turned and walked to the other end of the island, and stared at the water. Mallow blinked, he'd never seen Frogfucius act this way before.

"Mallow, my boy, I've kept this from you, until now, but you're... Not a frog of any sorts!!!"

Mallows eyes went wide with shock and his mouth dropped open. Every tadpole in the pond circled around the island in shock after hearing those words, even Lakitu was flying overhead, utterly shocked.

"Say WHAT?!?!?!" everyone screamed, but none as loud as Mallow.

"I was sitting here, about ten years ago, one rainy day, eating a snack of crickets...," Frogfucius began to tell his tale. "And suddenly a basket came out of the falls. I was shocked to see a baby was inside. As it came close enough, I pulled the basket a shore and removed the tiny baby. It was a baby of a creature unknown to me, and upon the tiny belt was the name 'Mallow'. I was confused, I didn't know if the child was this Mallow, or what, let alone what creature it was, and where it came from. It woke up and peered at me before calling me his 'daddie'. I realised I could not let the child out in the world so young, and came to the conclusion that, either its parents did not want him getting hurt in the wars with Bowser, or if they were working for Bowser themselfs, and did not want their child getting involved, so they sent him down the Midas River in hopes someone else would raise him." Frogfucius paused for a moment before continuing.

"So, I decided I would care for him, and that his name would be Mallow, I would be his Grandpa, and from that date foreward, that day would be his birthday.... He was a strange one that I soon learned had power over the weather. The reason I told him he was a frog was a simple one, I feared if his kind did turn out to be with Bowser, I had horrible thoughts as to what they would do to an innocent child. I would never be able to live with myself, as I would never be able to live if I just set him back in the basket and let him float away...," He sighed softly as he finished his tale.

Mallow had felt like he had fallen from the sky and hit the ground at a thousand miles per hour. He felt like his whole life was a lie, and now understood why he always longed to be somewhere else far, far away.... And also why he longed for his parents so badly sometimes. He now understood the unexplainable.

"I.... I was... adopted? N-now I know why everyone h-hates me and you w-want me g-gone.... M-my whole life here is a l-lie!" he trembled and his voice shook and he sniffled miserably, moments away from tears. Mallow couldn't remember a time when he was ever this sad.

Frogfucius angrily stamped the ground, making Mallow stop crying in that sense of shock, and making the tadpoles and Lakitu go off.

"Mallow!" he said angrily. "Now is not the time to cry! I most certainly do not hate you, I couldn't love you more if you were really my grandson.... and I want you to go with Mario and find you real family. I know your true mother and father are out there, waiting for you, somewhere. You'll never find them if you're still here."

Mallow wiped his eyes and nodded, doing his best not to cry still.

"Grandpa, I'll do my best to stop being such a crybaby! I'll go with Mario if he'll have me and find my real family. I'll make them proud, I'll make you all proud too!"

"Of course you can come with me," Mario said with a nod. "I can always use help, despite what others think, and you're a very good traveling partner, my friend."

"Then its settled. You both will embark on this journey immidiatly! First though, go to Rose Town, they need your help there." Mallow nodded.

"Rose Town, right. Oh, Grandpa, if you still want me to call you that...." Mallow said as he walked up to Frogfucius. "I... I got you the item you wanted in Mushroom Kingdom, it should still be allright." He pulled out the box that contained the Cricket Pie and handed it to Frogfucius.

"Oh, of course! I had nearly forgotten why you went out in the first place...." Frogfucius walked over to his dresser and opened a drawer, pulling out a hand carved staff and handing it to Mallow. "I made this and used it when I was your age Mallow. I call it the Froggie Stick. Its no use to me, sitting in a drawer... but it will come in handy for you!" Mallow took the staff in his hands and held it tight.

"Grandpa, I'll never forget everything you told me on this journey. I'll fight in the name of you, Tadpole Pond, and the unknown place where I come from!" Mallow declared as he held up the staff in his hand. Frogfucius smiled.

"I know you better then anyone else Mallow, and I know you'll stay true to those exact words. Farewell Mario, Mallow. If you ever need advice, please come to me!"

"Thank you Frogfucius, you've been a big help! We'll remember that!" Turning, both Mario and Mallow left via another tadpole bridge and began to leave the pond.

"So, Mallow, I've never been to Rose Town before... how do you get there? Remeber, no shortcuts!" the plumber warned him. Mallow laughed at those words.

"Haha, no, there are no shortcuts on this one. Rose Way is this way, it was Bandits Way until it came down from the path by the river and the falls. C'mon."

Soon they were heading along side the river down Rose Way. It was a pretty sight, with the clear blue water and trees whistling in the breeze. But Mallow nor Mario had their guard down, they had staff and shell ready as they walked down the path.

"There are starsfish called Starslap and attack anything that move... And there are Shy Guys and Lakitu's too. They're usually docile, but judging by all the monsters attacking lately, these guys won't hesitate to attack us," Mallow had warned him. Sure enough without warning a pair of Shy Guys and Starslap attacked shortly after. However, Mario took care of the Shy Guys with the NokNok shell, and Mallow dispatched his Thunderbolt to take care of the Starslaps no problem.

The same thing happened again and again. But they proved to be no match for the fighting duo. Mallow noticed Mario not trying to talk to him much and he knew the reason immidiatly. _He doesn't want to say anything to upset me. Not that I blame him._

Suddenly without warning he felt Mario jerk him back just before he was about to walk around a bend, and felt his mouth covered. Mario motioned for him to be quiet and listen.

"Allright people, form ranks!" a loud, gruff voice spoke. Mallow heared a shuffling a feet soon after.

"Attention, Shelled warriors!" the same voice spoke. "Hooded sorcerers! And last but not least, Groundling Goomba's! This is our moment! The Koopa Troop is invincible, nothing stands in our way! We shall be victorious! The bridge is down, but we'll go in the long way! Move out troops, on the double!!" After that, there was a lot of marching, and then silence.

"Was that BOSWER?!" asked an awed Mallow. Mario nodded.

"Indeed, Frogfucius was right, Bowser DID get thrown from his Keep and apparently can't get back in!" Mallow thought for a moment.

"So, is Smithy an ex-ally of Bowsers, or not?" Mario shrugged.

"Who knows, somehow I don't think so...,"

"Well, we'll worry about him later, Rose Town is just up ahead now," Mallow said.

They walked along the path in the now late-afternoon and soon reached the peaceful, small town of Rose Town.

Mallow was appalled at what he saw.

"Muh-mario! Whats wrong with all the towns people?!" he shouted as he looked around. Left and right nearly all the citizens of Rose Town were frozen in their tracks. Horrified, they ran up to the nearest man.

"Sir!" Mario asked the Toad. "Whats going on, why are you standing still?"

"Its... the arrows," he replied. "They come out of the forest and freeze you if you're hit? See? I can't move a muscle.... now I know how a scarecrow feels!" he said sadly.

Walking around, they talked to more people and found out many a thing to hear.

"Ever since this morning, when the shooting star fell into the forest, arrows have been shooting out of the forest! One just hit me a minute ago and now I can't move...." said a Toad woman.

"I just wanted to play outside. But I can't move. Standing here is sooo boring!" a Toad child told them glumly.

"Oooh, this is NOT good! Now I can't go to the forest and chop wood...," a hardworking Toad man told them with a sigh.

"Mario, I think this is what my Grandpa said when Rose Town was in trouble! What are we going to do? Those poor people can't be left there forever...,"

"I'm afraid nothing today, Mallow. The sun has begin to go down and it would be dangerous to go out tonight with who knows what shooting arrows.... I think we'd best take shelter in the inn." Mallow nodded sadly.

"I guess you're right.... But tomarrow we explore the forest first thing!" Mallow told him as they went into the inn.

Inside, a young Toad boy was playing with some dolls while his mom made dinner.

"Mario, heeeeelp!" he said in a fake high voice holding a Toadstool doll. In his other hand he held a Bowser doll.

"Gwahahahar! I'll be taking care of Toadstool now Mario!" he said impersonating Bowser. Setting those down and walking to the Mario doll, he held that up next.

"Not on my watch, Bowser Koopa!" he went as "Mario". "I shall now use my SUPER JUMP!" He grabbed the doll and made it attack Bowser, but Bowser threw it against the wall.

"Gwahar! You can't hurt me with your childsh pranks Mario! You're comming with ME Toadstool, zip your lip!" went "Bowser".

"Help!!! HAAAALP!!! Someone, save me, please!" went "Toadstool". "HAAAAlll...." the child trailed off as he saw Mallow and Mario watching. "Oh my gosh!" He ran up to Mario. "Its.... Ma........Ma......MOM!! Look, we have a VIP guest!"

"Yes dear, I hear you...," she said as she turned away from dinner. "Hello.... there. Why...aren't you Mario?" Mario nodded.

"Yes, I am as a matter of fact, and this is my friend Mallow." Mallow waved at this acknowledgement. "We need to stay here for the night if it isn't too much trouble.

"For REAL?!" the child asked as he ignored most of what Mario was saying. Running, he ran and grabbed his Mario doll and examined it and the doll. "Well, you have the hat, 'stache, and overalls... are you REALLY Mario?!"

Mario smiled and answered in his own fasion via jumping. The kid was excited by that.

"All RIGHT!! Hey Mario wanna play with me? I'm playing 'Save the world!'"

"Now Gaz...," his mother scolded him. "Mario may be a little tired, dear. I think him and his friend would like to rest."

"Awww, come on mom!" Gaz protested. "You NEVER play with me, its so boring to play alone...."

"Don't worry, ma'am," Mario said. "Me and Mallow would be glad to play with him, right?"

"Right!" agreed Mallow.

"Awesome!" Gaz said happily. "'Mario' just bought the farm, so can you be 'Bowser?'" he asked Mario.

"Of course I can." Mario replied.

"What about me?" said Mallow.

"Oh, I forgot about you...," went Gaz. "Ehm, you can be 'Toadstool', she just goes 'help', kay?" Mallow sighed. He would've protested, but knew that wouldn't be right and just nodded. Gaz grinned. "Okay! That leaves me the best part! I get to be 'Geno'!" Grinning he pulled out a wooden doll weating a fancy yellow and blue hat and matching cape, with a few curls of bright orange hair.

"Ready guys? Lets play where we left off!"

"Help me, help me!!!" Mallow went doing his best Toadstool impression while Mario went "Gwahahaha" as Bowser.

"Stop right there!" Gaz went. "I'll save you Princess Toadstool, with my one and only customized, patented SHOOT STAR SHOT!!" Gaz fired a shot from his doll that fired a real beam, but instead of hitting Bowser, he hit Mario square in the face and knocked him into the wall. Mallow, Gaz, and his mother watched horrified as Mario fell to the ground.

"I.... uh.... think I, er.... missed...," said Gaz as Mallow examined Mario.

"He's out cold! You knocked out Mario!!" he wailed. Gaz's mother picked up the fallen super hero.

"I think he'll be OK in the morning, help me get him upstairs," she adressed to Mallow. Nodding, Mallow complied and helped get Mario upstairs into a bed. Afterwards, he sadly went downstairs were Gaz was getting a scolding.

"Help yourself to some soup, dear," she nodded to the homemade soup on the stove before turning back to scolding Gaz. Mallow grabbed himself a bowl and spoon, poured some soup into it, and sat down at the table.

_Mmmm, beef, my favourite!_ He thought to himself as he began to eat. Although the soup was delicious and filling, and the hospitality was great, he ate slowly and sadly. And the reason was apparent. _I.... wonder what they were like..._ he wondered to himself as he sat there, thinking about his parents. Quietly he excused himself and washed the bowl before going up stairs.

Mario was still unconcious, but Mallow didn't really notice, he was lost in thought so much, trying to revisualise those gone from his life and memory. _Mom, Dad... were ARE you...?_

The next morning....

Mallow yawned as he woke up early the next morning, just as the sun was coming up. Stretching, he got out of bed and slipped on his shoes. Just as he was brushing his curl, he saw someone else yawn and wake up too.

"Ugh, what happened...?"

"Mario! You're awake! Are you allright?"

"Yeah.... I got a big bump on my head though...." he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. Mallow smiled.

"Hey its great you're up and all! I know its early, but we should probably leave now if we want to stop those arrows from freezing anyone else." Mario nodded in agreement.

"You've got a point there. We should leave right after breakfast." While they were talking, Mario had gotten out of bed and put on his shoes and combed his hair, and of course putting on his trademark hat.

"I had a strange dream last night," Mario said as they walked downstairs to the lobby of the inn. "There was a star, a real living star, that came inside the inn and possesed the doll that shot me, and walked outside...."

"Really? I had that dream too! Do you suppose it was a sign, or a premonition?"

"Who knows?" Stepping down the last steps, Gaz's mother was there to greet them.

"Mario! Its so good to see you're OK! Did you rest well?" Mario nodded.

"Yeah, it was really good. So, what do we owe you for one night and two people?"

"Oh, I couldn't dream of letting you pay after being injured AND playing with Gaz. Please, its on me, I insist." Mario nodded again wearily, seeing it was no good to argue with her. She smiled.

"Theres cereal in the closet and I just brewed some coffee, please help yourselfs."

Grabbing a bowl and a box of Sugar Mushroom cereal, Mallow sat down and ate a very hearty breakfast: an entire three bowls full and a tall glass of milk. Mario, after finishing a cup of coffee and some toast, raised an eyebrow at the hungry child. Mallow shrugged.

"I was hungry and I didn't eat much last night."

"I hope you didn't eat too much," Mario said thoughtfully. "The last thing you'll want after a big meal and going out to fight is to get punched in the gut." Mallow thought that bit over.

"I guess you got a point there... We'll just hope I don't get punched in the stomach then!" Mario was about to say something else when they got intterrupted, by Gaz.

"Mom!!" he called from upstairs as he came rushing down. "You won't belive what I just saw! It was amazing! I saw a full-grown version of Geno walk into the forest! Neat, huh?"

"Thats nice dear...," she replied blandly, but clearly annoyed. "And isn't Geno the one who broke my lamp the other day?"

"Aww, ma, that was, well, you know... This was REAL! Its true, really, I SAW HIM OUTSIDE!!"

"Allright Gaz, lets hear it!" she said as she pulled him aside. "What are you trying to get out of THIS time?!"

"Mo-om!" he protested. "I didn't DO anything! I truely saw him outside, walking into the forest!!" Taking this as their cue to leave, Mallow and Mario walked outside.

"Do you really think Gaz saw Geno walking into the forest?" Mallow asked Mario as they began to go down the forest path.

"Maybe...," he replied thoughtfully. "It WOULD fit in with the dream I had last night."

"Perhaps it wasn't a dream. Maybe it really happened," Mallow replied, causing them to both think.

Soon they walked into the forest, which was called the Forest Maze because it was so maze-like inside.

"I've never been in here personally," said Mallow. "But I know large bee's and Wigglers leave here, as do gorillas...."

"Gorillas?!"

"Its what I've heard...."

"I'll see it when I belive it!"

Deeper they walked into the forest, so dark it became, it appeared more like night then day. _Its the perfect hideout for someone suspcious_ Mallow thought to himself.

Indeed, they did find giant bee's in the forest, along with not-so-nice living mushrooms, Wigglers, Rat Funks, and even a few gorillas!! However, none of them stood a chance against Mario and Mallow: they worked like a team to fight the monsters they encountered.

However, they found a lot of coins strewn around the forest and Mushrooms that were good to eat. After an hour of wandering around, they both leaned against a tree and snacked on three Mushrooms and a Honey Syrup apiece. As they were finishing up, Mallow suddenly grabbed Mario's arm and pointed between some trees.

"Mario, look!" he cried. They were being watched by what appeared to be a wooden man in a hat and cape. At his alarm, he turned and went off quickly. Mallow and Mario took this cue to go after him too. Their persuer was fast though as he dodged through the trees and they soon lost him. However, while looking for him again, they found themselfs on the edge of a clearing, where a crazy looking bow was talking.

"Nine hundred ninetyseven! Nine hundred ninetyeight! Nine hundred ninetynine! One thousand, nya ha ha! One thousand arrows! For cover they run! Fun this is indeed, yes! Nya! A thousand more shall I shoot!" As he spoke, he was firing arrows up into the sky in the Rose Town direction.

"Mario! This must be the jerk firing at Rose Town, whoever he is!"

"Lets watch and listen," Mario suggested. They ducked behind a bush and peeked out. Surronding the bow were hundreds of arrow minions, who were laughing as cruelly as he was.

"Happy I am, nya nya!" the bow spoke. "Look at just their expressions when freeze they do!"

"Woo-hoo! Look at the stupid living statues!!" his flunkies cried.

"Nya nya! More practice need I!" as he spoke, he loaded up an arrow and fired it.

"Oh no! He's not stopping!" Mario moaned in dismay.

"We gotta DO something Mario!" Mallow cried.

"I agree!" Mario said as he cracked his knuckles and prepared to charge in their midst!

"Who do you think you are, Bruce Lee?! You just can't go running in there fists flying!" Mallow held him back as he told him this. Mario stopped and stepped back.

"I guess you're right about that, Mallow. Theres too many of them for the both of us to take on alone. If only we had more help...."

Behind them, a bush rustled and footsteps drew near. They jumped in shock: Someone was coming!

"Quick Mallow, over here!!" Mario yelled and pulled Mallow into a farther away bush. Peering around it, they saw the figure come in view: It was another arrow flunkie, bringing with it a great green star like the one in Mushroom Kingdom's castle.

"Look what I found, Bowyer!" it said happily as it pushed the star to the bow, apparently named Bowyer.

"What?! Practicing am I! Disturb do not! More arrows must I shoot, more statues must I make, nya nya nya!"

"STOP!!!" someone cried. The figure came running into the clearing: it was the person they were persuing earlier!

A person that greatly resembled Geno the doll back in the inn.

"You don't know what your doing! Return that star to ME" he yelled as he came between Bowyer and the star.

"Nya?! Stranger you are! And strange looking at that! Teach you we must, in charge am I! Nya! What name is it go by you do?!"

"I serve a.... higher authority! My name is none of your concern! And that Star Piece belongs to everyone, NOT you! Its not yours too keep!" Even from a distance, Mallow could see the anger on the figures face.

"Nya! Teach you lesson I must!" Bowyer said angrily. Rapidly, he began to fire arrows left and right wildly all over the place.

"Hey, chill out!" the mystery man called, but he paid no attention to him.

"Mario, what are we going to do?" Mallow said in their hiding place, safely avoiding the arrows.

"We're going to help that mystery man. He may be a foe, or he may be a friend, but it doesn't matter, he can't take that Bowyer guy alone."

"You're right! We GOT to help him, do what we can!! ....Just from over here." Mario did a facefault at this.

"Mallow, you are hopeless...." He would've scolded him more, but an arrow landed between them, making them jump back in shock.

"So much for our safe spot...," Mallow muttered.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to save him!"

"Me too! I'm not afraid! And I'm NOT gonna cry!" they both charged foreward, dodging all the flying arrows comming their way. However, unfortunitly, Mallow tripped, and Mario, not noticing, continued to charge foreward. Mallow slowly got up.

"Ugh, hey Mario wait for-HOLY TADPOLE!!!!" All at once, an onslaught of arrows were aimed at him. Grabbing his Froggie Stick, he swiped with the staff and all the arrows hit the staff instead. He looked at it and gulped, the entire front side of it was covered in arrows.

"That could've been ME!! Marioooooo! Wait up for me!!!" Running and dodging arrows, he managed to reach them several seconds after Mario. Panting, he looked at Mario.

"Mario, you DITCHED me back there!!! Look at what he almost did to me!!" he said as he brandished the staff before picking the arrows out of it. Mario opened his mouth to say something, but the mystery man interrupted.

"So! You're THE Mario. WE know about you!"

"But who ARE-"

"KNOCK-KNOCK!" Bowyer interrupted them. "Nya! Insulted am I! Finish you I will!"

"Not if we finish you first!" Mario replied. The other two nodded in agreement. Grabbing his NokNok shell, Mario kicked it into Bowyer while Mallow did a Thunderbolt. Neither attacks had much effect on them.

"Nyaaaa!! Now three against one. Nyat FAIR!" He grabbed three arrows and took aim. "Fix it I will! Shoot arrows I shall. Regret it you WILL." All at once he fired the arrows, and they hit the three heros! Mallows Froggie Stick clattered to the ground, turned to stone, as did Mario's NokNok Shell, and the strange persons arms, which revealed cannons underneath.

"I... I think he disabled our weapons!" Mallow cried.

"But we still have our specail attacks," Mario pointed out.

"You're right! I'll just have to use my Thuderbolt!" charging for a moment, he released his thunderbolts. Bowyer just chuckled.

"Nya, that I do too, WATCH!" he released a very strong electrical charge, stunning the three warriors for a moment. Mario moaned a little.

"He IS strong..... We'll have to use our best powers against him!" Mallow nodded and handed everyone a Mushroom each.

"We'll need these to keep up our strength." Quickly, they devoured the Mushrooms and Mario cracked his knuckles.

"Well, maybe now is the time to use the new attack I've been meaning to try out, here goes!!" Mario lept foreward and began to bounce on Bowyers head, ten times in a row before jumping out.

"I have a little something too," the mysterious stranger spoke. "Here goes!!" He charged for a few seconds before releasing a poweful blast that hit Bowyer. Bowyer growled angrily and took aim again.

"Stronger then I thought you are! Fix you I WILL!!" he fired again. This time they felt their specail energy run to zero the same time their items came back to life.

"He disabled our specail attacks this time. We'll have to keep our wits about us, this is going to take luck as much as brute strength against this fellow," the mysterious figure spoke. Mario and Mallow nodded.

"Allright then, I'll use my shell, you can, er, do whatever it is you do, and Mallow, you can heal allright?"

"Allright, my attacks are no good against him anyways," Mallow repiled.

The mysterious figure simply nodded and fired his hands at Bowyer, while Mario kicked his shell. Both attacks hit their target. Bowyer retaliated by firing arrows. While they didn't freeze them, they did hurt quite a bit.

After a while Bowyer again disabled their regular weapons, making them shift to their specail attacks. While Mario jumped on his head, and the mysterious stranger fired his beams, Mallow tossed them Mushrooms and Honey Syrups when he could, while doing his best to dodge the Bolts Bowyer constantly shot his way.

Bowyer got very angry after a while and began shooting random shots in his anger, which were easier to dodge then when he aimed in his calm.

"Guys...," Mario spoke. "He can't have much power left, and he has our items disabled this time. If I use my Fire Orb, Mallow, you do your Thunderbolt, and sir, you do your beam...."

"-Then we should have him...," the mysterious figure finished for him. "Yes, that should work, lets do it!"

All three of them charged their power and at once released it, all of them hittin Bowyer at the same exact time.

"No!!!" he screamed. "Defeated I cannot be!!!!" he had barely gotten them out of his mouth when he too exploded like Mack did, leaving only a pile of coins in his place. Mario grinned, Mallow cheered, they both did the peace sign, while the mystery man simply smiled and nodded his head.

"Thank you both," he told them. "You really got me out of a jam there." He looked between Mario and Mallow and noticed them staring at him. "Why are you both staring at me? You do know I'm more then simply a doll, don't you?"

"We... sort of guessed it during the fight" Mario replied. "We thought you were working with Bowyer when we saw you spying on us."

"That is a mistake on my behalf, I had seen you in the forest too, and I panicked, thinking you were his spies. As for me, well, as you probably have already guessed.... I am a visitor from above, and this is a form I am simply borrowing for the time being."

"Above?! You mean, from the sky or something?" Mallow questioned. The visitor from above simply smiled and chuckled.

"Higher then that I'm afraid! Do you two know about the Star Road of Star Haven?"

"No, I've never heard of those places before...," Mario said.

"Neither have I," Mallow agreed.

"Completly in the dark, eh? Well, its a big mess up there, and it concerns you both too! Perhaps I should explain.... You've heard of wishing on a star, right?" Mallow and Mario nodded. "Well, far above the world is the Star Road of Star Haven, where the Stars live. Long ago, a peice of the powerful Star Road was removed and condensed to form a mighty wand called the Star Rod. The seven most powerful Stars guard over the Star Rod and use it. All the Stars can hear your wishes and decide if it should be granted or not, and the guardians over the Rod, depending on if they agree or disagree on that choice, will use the Rod, which turns your wish into a shooting star, and it falls down to the world and becomes granted!

"The Star Road powers all this and we have guarded it for eons, until recently.... You see, a giant sword shot down from space and plowed right through the Star Road! The Star Rod has stopped working and has blackened instead of glowing. The guardians, who gain their power from the Road and Rod, have also weakened greatly, to the point of a dealthy sickness. If the Road is not fixed soon, they will die and our Haven will diminish with it, along with your world, a world of no wishes!

"But all is not lost. The Star Road fell in seven pieces and have landed in various points in Mushroom Kingdom. I am not a guardian, but one of the lower ranking Stars, I have enough power withen me to come down and recover the seven Star Pieces."

"A-are you saying this star right here is a part of your Starway?!"

"Thats Star ROAD, my fluffy young friend. And yes, that star is a broken piece of the Star Road, and if I'm not mistaken, you two found one in the Mushroom Kingdom castle."

"If its a part of your Star Road...," began Mario. "Then you should take it." The Star visitor shook his head.

"No, I won't. You see, I can't do it alone, no one can. But I belive if I went with you and your friend, we'd stand a chance at recovering them and saving Star Road and Star Haven and defeating Smithy," he told them wisly. Mario nodded.

"You do have a point there. We'll gladly let you join us, we wouldn't have been able to defeat Bowyer without you." The visitor smiled.

"Thank you very much, I am indebted to you now. My name is-" He went on to say something impossible to pronouce. _He expects us to call him that?!_ Mallow thought as he said it.

"...But I realise that is hard for those down here to pronounce, so, you can call me Geno, after the doll I took form in. I chose him because he looked like the strongest and wisest out of all the dolls. Now, grab that Star Piece Mario.... We have a long journey ahead of us!"

Mario nodded, just as the Star Piece began to circle around him, like the other one did, before flying into his hands, spinning rapidly, and vanishing. Geno smiled.

"Lets get going, we have a whole Mushroom Kingdom to search through!" The three friends turned and began to walk away when they heard someone talking.

"Ooh, I heard everything! Who would've thought that star was so important?!" It was an arrow that never got used. "I must inform Smithy immidiatly!" it turned and began to hop away.

"He overheard us! The nosy little chump...," Mallow exclaimed angrily.

"Hurry!" said Mario. "If we hurry we may be able to stop him from relaying that information!!" Turning, they began to chase after the arrow, in hopes they could stop the info from reaching Smithy.


	4. The Mushroom Derby, Moleville Blues

I finally finished Chapter Four! A bit behind scheduel though, because the computer I use kept messing up.... Anyways, yes this is VERY short I know, thats why I added in The Mushroom Derby. Don't worry, the next chapters will DEFINITLY make up for it!

Chapter Four: The Mushroom Derby, Moleville Blues

Over an hour or so later....

"I can't belive we lost him!" Mallow moaned angrily once again as they left the forest. Although they chased the arrow for a long time, he managed to lose them and now they were leaving the Forest Maze feeling defeated.

"Well, even cutting directly through Bowser's Land, he'll take a while to reach his Keep," Mario pointed out. Geno nodded in agreement.

"He's right, we have enough time to get supplies in Rose Town and begin the search for a new Star Piece before Smithy understands them fully."

"I guess you got some points there...," Mallow said in defeat. "But we got to hurry to make sure none fall into the wrong hands!"

Soon, they arrived back to a more happier, cheerful Rose Town: one where the citizens weren't statues! _Now THIS is the Rose Town I know!!_ Mallow thought with a grin.

Entering the Rose Town shop, the two young shopkeepers smiled at the group happily.

"Welcome!" said the Toad woman. "Its so nice to have shoppers again, what is it that you need?"

"Five Honey Syrups and Mushrooms please," Mario told them. The couple handed them the items and Mario gave them the coins needed.

"Thank you very much!" the Toad man told them cheerfully. "Come again anytime!"

They had left the store and were about to leave town, when Geno stopped them.

"Hold on a second," he said. "I think we should talk to Gaz, or else he'll worry about his doll, and that wouldn't be right."

"You got a point there, we should pay him a visit," Mario agreed.

Mallow was slightly relunctant to see Gaz again after last time, but he too followed his friends into the inn.

"Geno! You came back!" he cried happily the moment he saw him walk into the inn. "SEE Mom? THIS is the Geno I was talking about!" he told his mom as he pointed at Geno.

"My oh my thats a fabulous costume! It must be hot for the Toad wearing it though," she replied to Gaz.

"Awww, forget it Mom," Gaz replied in annoyance. "C'mon, lets play Geno!" he said excitingly. Geno, however, shook his head.

"How I wish I could! But Mario, Mallow, and myself must leave to find the missing Star Pieces..."

"Star Pieces? Ya mean like shooting stars? What for?"

"Well... how can I explain this.... Well Gaz, its like this. It used to be, when you wished on a star, your wish got granted. But now when you wish, it can't be granted, and the world will get.... very sad. Do you get it?"

"Uhm... nope! You lost me!" the trio face faulted at not getting the very simplified explination.

"Well, lets just say if things stay the way they are, your wishes will never be granted ever again."

"WHAT?! You mean, even if I do grow up I won't ever be strong and cool like you?!" It was apparent he managed to catch onto this very simplified explination. Geno nodded.

"Thats right. No wishes will come true unless we find all seven Star Pieces and fix the Star Road. Which is why the three of us are searching together."

"So THATS it, Mario needs all the help he can get! Geno, I have a lot of dreams, so please go fix the Star thingy so they can come true!"

"That I can promise!"

"Great, good luck!" They turned to leave but Gaz stopped them.

"Oh, wait a minute!" he ran and got something from a shelf before handing it to Geno. "This is yours Geno! It lets you use bullets! Those will make the Goomba's go 'ow!!'"

"Thanks, I'll use it well!" Geno assured him, before they turned and left this time.

Soon they were walking down a different direction of Rose Way west alongside the forest.

"This leads to Moleville, I've been there before," Mallow explained. "And halfway along the way is the Warp Pipe down to the Pipe Vault. Its a real shortcut to Yo'ster Isle."

"I said no more shortcuts Mallow!" Mario said sharply. Mallow's head drooped.

"I only mentioned it because I saw a star fall this way yesterday...," Mallow said sadly. Geno came up and patted his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not mad. Do you know where it landed?" Mallow shook his head.

"No, it might've landed near Moleville, or off the shores of Yo'ster Isle or somewhere inbetween."

"Well," Geno said thoughtfully. "It can't hurt to check out Yo'ster Isle, and this Pipe Vault sounds like it may save us a few hours, considering its already late morning." Mallow nodded.

"Oh yes! It takes a day to go there by boat, but the Pipe Vault takes maybe fifteen minutes or so."

"Its settled then! We'll go to Yo'ster Isle first." Mario was relunctant, but by the time they reached the Pipe Vault, they had convinced him to do it.

Leaping down the Warp Pipe they found themselfs in a long narrow tunnel full of Warp Pipes.

"Most of these are duds that lead to nowhere, but my Grandpa says the right one is about fifteen minutes down the pipe and is marked by a scratching of a Yoshi upon it. We can find our way back by searching for the one with the Mole and Rose scratched upon it," Mallow explained.

So they searched. And searched. They had to battle some Piranha Plants which slowed them down, but after thirty minutes of trekking, they found the correct pipe and jumped down it.

_The island is so beautiful...._ Mallow thought to himself as he looked around. While the section of Mushroom Kingdom was subtropical, it was nothing compared to the full tropical climate that was home to the Yoshis.

Oh the Yoshis! Everywhere he looked he saw a Yoshi: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, grey, and any colour he could think of inbetween. While they were looking around a green Yoshi walked up to them happily.

"Mario!" he cried. "Its been so long, how are you doing?" as he was talking he shook Marios hand. Mario smiled.

"I'm on a new adventure now, with my new partners, Mallow who grew up in Tadpole Pond, and Geno from Star Haven. Guys, this is Yoshi, he's helped me many times!"

"Its a pleasure to meet you!" he told them happily as he shook Geno and Mallows hands.

"Yoshi, I have something to ask you," Geno began. "But have you seen any shooting stars fall on the island or in the ocean?" he asked. Yoshi shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, but we have our own problems.... its Boshi," he told them sadly. Mario scratched his head.

"Boshi? I don't really remember a Boshi...," Mario replied as he scratched his head. Yoshi pointed to a light blue, punk looking Yoshi.

"Thats Boshi right over there. He managed to win a race against me, and changed the rules as the new champ of the Mushroom Derby. We can only race one on one now, but I can't seem to beat him anymore...,"

"Mushroom Derby? You mean THE Mushroom Derby?!" Mallow asked in awe. Yoshi nodded.

"Yes, and if he's not beaten soon, it will never be as great as it used to be anymore...," Yoshi replied with a sigh. Mario, however looked thoughtful.

"Is their any rules that say the Yoshi can't have a rider?"

"No, not that I know of."

"And you are allowed to use cookies in the race, are you not?" Yoshi nodded.

"Of course you can."

"Well then, I'll be back shortly." Mario walked off, leaving his puzzeled friends behind.

"What do you suppose he's up to?" Geno wondered. The others shrugged, clueless.

"Uhm, Yoshi, sir, can I ask you something?" Mallow asked shyly. Yoshi nodded.

"Sure Mallow, what is it?"

"Well, this is the first time I've ever seen a Yoshi before and I was wondering if I could, well, you know-"

"Ride me?" Yoshi finished for him. Mallow blushed and nodded, but Yoshi simply smiled.

"Of course you can, hop on!" Eagrly, Mallow jumped on Yoshi and began to ride him around.

"Wow! This is great! I could get used to this!" Yoshi couldn't help but laugh at his happiness, causing Mallow to laugh too.

When they noticed Mario had come back with a sack, they rode over and Mallow jumped off.

"Whats in the sack?" Mallow asked Mario. Mario grinned.

"Yoshi Cookies. Yoshi, I'm going to ride you in the Derby and get back your rightful champdon!" Yoshi jumped with joy.

"Thank you Mario! I don't deserve a friend such as you! C'mon, lets get things arranged with Boshi!" Mario hopped on to Yoshi and they went over to the punk Yoshi Boshi. Mallow grabbed some leaves and sticks off the ground.

"What are you doing?" Geno asked him curiously. Mallow smiled.

"Making a flag," he repiled. "We can cheer on Yoshi from the sidelines, it'll give him more confidence."

"Thats a good idea, confidences always gives people extra strength," he said as he made himself a flag to wave. When they were done, they went to the sidelines with all the other Yoshis to cheer on Mario and Yoshi, who were at the starting mark. A purple Yoshi designated as the referee stood at the starting line, holding a checkered flag.

"You know the rules," she said. "First one to the finish line is the Derby Champion! Our current Champion is Boshi!" When she said that, many Yoshi's, Mallow, and Geno booed. "And the challenger is none other then ex-Champion, Yoshi!" Many cheers followed his name.

"Allrighty then, on your mark, get set, and GO!" she yelled waving her flag.

From Mallows position along the track, Boshi and Yoshi took off with incredible speed.

"C'mon Yoshi!" a Yoshi cried out.

"You can beat him, we all know you can!" another cried.

"Come on Yoshi, you can win, we have faith!" Mallow and Geno yelled out as they waved their flags. Through out the race he saw them neck and neck, dashing around the track. Everytime Mario threw Yoshi a Cookie he had a great burst of speed. Finally, they were approaching the finish line. It was close, it was neck and neck....

"Ladies and Gentleyoshi!" the referee cried. "Yoshi the ex-Champion wins by a nose with rider Mario! Yoshi is again Champion!!" The entire sidelines erupted with cheers, and Mallow and Geno ran up to their winner of a friend, who was beyond happiness.

"Thank you all so much! Thanks to you, theres no longer a boss, and everyone who wants to race can race together now!" he said happily. Mario hugged his longtime friend.

"Yoshi, its always my pleasure to help, my friend." Yoshi grinned and hugged the trio of friends.

"I'm in your debt guys. I heard you over the croud cheering. It gave me great confidence knowing the friends of Mario wanted me to win too!"

"Yoshi, we were glad to cheer you on and give you the confidence you needed. I hope to see you again sometime!" Mallow told him.

"Indeed, it was a spectacular race. You earned your Championship," Geno also told him. Yoshi smiled.

"Its my only regret, that the shooting star you asked about did not land here. I will wish to the stars, however, that you find what it is you are looking for on this quest."

"You're not going to go with us Yoshi?" Mario asked. "You'd be a great help, and we need all the help we can get!"

"Thanks, but no, I need to stay and make sure Boshi doesn't turn into a real jerk again. You'll find much better help then me though. I wish you luck!"

"Goodbye!" they called as they head down into the Pipe Vault again.

"Yoshi was real nice, its a shame he couldn't come with us," Mallow said sadly as they went along the Pipe Vault.

"He prefers to stay and protect the island while we go out, I'm sure he's heard of the bad things happening around Mushroom Kingdom too," Mario pointed out to the sullen Mallow, who pondered this over.

"I guess you're right about that.... Hey, I just realised something. When I was in Mushroom Kingdom I never saw Raz and Raini, do you know where they are?" Mario smiled.

"They went to 'tie the knot' in Marrymore, so to speak. They left very early yesterday morning, I belive."

"Wow! I hope they have a good life together. I've always liked them, they're nice."

"Well, It looks like we have one more thing to fight for, doesn't it?" Geno couldn't help but to point out.

"Yikes, I didn't mean to make it turn out to that, I'm sorry," Mario apologized. Geno shook his head.

"No need to apologize, we all have our own reasons to fight Smithy, the more reasons will just make us more determined."

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that...."

Trekking on, they soon found the Warp Pipe with the Rose and Mole scratched upon it. Jumping through it, they exited the Pipe Vault and once again found themselfs in Rose Way west, now in the late morning. They walked along the path for fortyfive minutes, or so, by the time they reached Moleville, the mining community in the foothills of Mole Mountain, famous for its various minerals.

"This isn't right...," Mallow noted as they entered the tiny town. "Theres usually more Moles around then this, what do you suppose is going on?"

"I haven't a clue, but lets check the shop. There should be someone inside the shop."

"Great idea Mario! I guess thats why you're the leader."

The trio entered the shop and indeed a Mole woman and child were in charge.

"Don't be shy, c'mon in! Everyone's up on the mountain, but we're here mindin' the store," she told them.

"The mountain, why's everyone on the mountain?" Mario asked.

"'Cause its an emergancy!" the young girl mole replied. "Dyna and Mite are trapped in the mines! Only us an' the other kids are here 'cause its too dangerous on the mountain for us."

"They're trapped in the mines?!" Mallow looked shocked. "How long have they been in there?!"

"Since yesterday, when a shootin' star fell in the mountain. They were playing inside when it hit and now they're trapped. Everyone's digging through the fallen rocks t'get to them, but so far they haven't suceeded."

"Don't worry, we'll get them out," Geno told the mole. "But we'd like some supplies before we venture in."

"Well, for starters, ya'll need more durable clothes 'fore going in. Here, I got some like they ones ya'll are wearing right here," as she talked she piled some clothes on the counter, ones identicle to the ones they were wearing.

"How much are they?" Mario inquisited.

"Twenty Coins each," She replied. "Don't worry, they're tough, we make 'em to withstand wear and tear in the mines."

"We'll take 'em!" Mario happily replied. Soon, they walked out of the store wearing new clothes, and Mallow even had a new weapon, a pair of cymbals. They began to head up the mountain when Mario pulled them behind a bush and put his fingers to his lips to motion for 'quiet' before pointing farther ahead, near the entrance to the mines.

Bowser was standing there quite angrily with three Goomba's and Magikoopa's nearby.

"Bowser, most of our allies have ran off, what do we do?!" wailed a Goomba.

"We only have experience fighting Mario, these new guys are too much for us!" a Magikoopa cried.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!!" Bowser roared angrily. "I'm the biggest, baddest brute around and don't you forget it! But if that stupid plumber Mario hears I've been kicked out of my own castle, my reputation will be flushed down the drain! Even the evil King of the Koopa's needs to keep up an image! So stop your bellyaching and come ON. We're taking back my castle and thats FINAL!"

As soon as he finished his speech, they marched around the mountain, heading north to his Keep.

"Bowser can't take back his own castle from Smithy? Thats not good! They MUST be tough," Mallow said after he had left.

"Bowser can be a real hothead, but I wouldn't call his troops too powerful. So we don't have to worry about him for a while yet. I think it will be easier to stop Smithy if he's running the Keep then if Bowser manages to take back some of it," Mario replied.

"Thats a good point. As long as Smithy keeps him busy, it may indeed be to our advantage. We may recover a Star Piece or two if Bowser keeps his attention tuned to him," Geno noted wisely.

"Well, we won't save Dyna and Mite if we stay here behind this bush, will we? And besides, I think a Star Piece what crashed into the mountain, lets hurry before another one of Smithy's goons gets to it first!"

At Marios words they headed up to the entrance of the mines, where a Mole woman was. When she saw them approach she ran up to them in a frenzy.

"Its Super Mario, isn't it? Please, you gotta help us! A great star fell into the mountain and trapped some kids inside. To make matters wrose, one of the men folk be stuck inside too!"

"Don't worry, we're on our way to save them right now," Mario told the Mole. Before she could reply, another Mole dropped down from a higher point of the mountain.

"She's still diggin' like crazy up there while the men folk try t'get in from inside. I can't keep up. But I think she might get through yet at this rate."

While the two Moles were talking, Mario, Mallow, and Geno went inside the mines. In the very entrance of it was the mother of the missing kids, talking frantically as she paced around, two men Moles nearby.

"Oh dear! I sure hope the kids are OK...," she muttered nervously.

"I know how you're feelin', but mopin' 'round here ain't gonna do much," one of the men told her. As they watched she slowly left the mines, though she kept her head turned at the massive rock slide blocking entrance into the mines.

"Thats what I TOLD 'er but I don't know if I'd be feelin' any different if I was 'er...," the same Mole said as soon as the mother Mole left.

"We're gettin' nowhere FAST," the other said. "We'll NEVER reach the kids at this rate...,"

"Up theres the old entrance to the mines," his friend replied as he pointed to an old entrance above them, untouched by the rockslide. "If we could reach it somehow, we might get to the kids!"

"I wish that Mario fellow was here.... HE could reach it in a heartbeat."

"Wish granted!" Mario said as he stepped up to them with Mallow and Geno. The moles stared at them shocked.

"Well I'll be a Goomba's uncle!! If it ain't him in the flesh! Mario, you're a real life saver!"

"Save the thanks for when we get Dyna and Mite. We got to reach them first!" Mario told them. The moles nodded.

"We understand. Hop onto our shoulders and you should be able t'reach the entrance!"

Leaping Mario jumped onto them and then onto the top of the rockslide. The Moles helped Geno and Mallow up to him.

"We'll be out ASAP!" Mario called to them as they went into the mines.

Inside it was dark and dusty. Mallow coughed.

"Wish we thought enough to bring a lanturn...," he said aloud.

"Its allright, we can see without a lanturn, we just have to get used to the dark." Sure enough, the more they walked, the easier they could see.

Without warning rocks fell on their heads and they blacked out. The next thing Mallow knew he saw Croco and three Bandits bent over them, bags full of all their coins!

"Hey! You little-" before he got a chance to finish talking, Croco and the Bandits sped off as Mario and Geno awakened.

"What happened, did we get caught in another rockfall?" Geno wondered aloud. Mallow shook his head.

"It was a trap! Croco and some Bandits took our coins and went that way!" he said pointing one way down a fork in the mines.

"Why that little... Lets get him!" Mario said.

Running, the trio chased after the crooks. Soon, they caught up to them at a dead end created by the rockfall.

"Looks like a dead end, folks!" Croco said to the Bandits. "But not to worry... heh heh, I got me a BOMB! Never leave home without 'em," as he talked, he pulled out a Bob-Omb, lit it, and had it explode. The explosion blasted away the rock fall and they ran through.

"Bob-Ombs! If we could get back our coins AND a Bob-Omb...," Geno said aloud. Mallow knew what he meant immidiatly, they could get through and save the kids!

Running again, they saw Croco not far ahead of them, with the Bandits.

"Oh no you don't!" Mallow said angrily. Using his Thunderbolt specail, he blasted the Bandits, who collapsed at once, and Croco, who was stunned.

"Why I oughta.... Time for my revenge against youse two!" Croco yelled as he charged at them. Mario sent his NokNok shell into him and punched him good when he was stunned.

As Croco began to charge again, Geno shot him with his Finger Shot.

"Grrr, you might have new weapons and some stupid doll to help you, but I'm faster'n before now! Behold!" Running with great speed, he managed to snatch all of their items with a single swipe of his clawed hand, they didn't even feel anything!

"Is it just me or is he tougher then before?" Mallow muttered aloud.

"Somehow I don't think so. He must've been practicing while we were wasting all that time in the Forest Maze."

"Hey, its not over yet!" Geno reminded them. "We still have our weapons, and we can still use our specail techniques against him."

"You're right, lets get him!" Mario agreed with Geno. Running foreward he blasted his Fire Orb at Croco, most of the fireballs hitting theit target. And then he lept on top of Croco and hopped on his head 7 times before leaping back.

Geno attacked next. First he blasted Croco with his Finger Shot, before charging and firing his Geno Beam.

"Grrrr, you stupid doll!" Croco reached into his bag and pulled out some bombs. With great aim, he threw them at the fighting trio, who had to dodge not only the bombs, but falling rocks.

"If he keeps this up, he's going to causea cave in!" Mario yelled to his companions.

"Don't worry," Mallow said. "I'll take care of him!" Mallow simply walked up to Croco and stared at him for a moment.

"What do ya want, kid?!" Croco growled at him. Mallow smiled innocently at him.

"Oh nothing.... Except-" he smashed his new cymbols together against Croco's head twice. "Our-" He charged up his power. As he was charging "Who does this kid think he is?!" entered his head: thoughts he did NOT think. "Items!!" He released his Thunderbolt, all the lightning bolts striking Croco. Finished, he walked back over to Mario and Geno.

"Augh!!" Croco angrily screamed. "You want them back?! FINE!!!" He threw his sack on the ground, full of their items and coins. "Take them, go on!! But mark my words, WE'LL MEET AGAIN!!" The Bandits had woken up again by this time, and Croco and the Bandits ran off, defeated again.

"Humph, what a pushover," Geno simply said as he picked up the sack. "If its one thing I can't stand that I've noticed about people from far above, is the bullies that act tough, but are nothing,"

"Hear, hear!" agreed Mario. "Thats Bowser all over. Croco and Bowser are quite alike, actually. They never learn,"

"I don't think he'll bother us for a while though. And look! He left all kinds of bombs in his sack!" Mallow said happily.

"That looks like enough to blast through to Dyna and Mite, lets go get them AND that Star Piece!"

They trekked through deeper into the mines, meeting nothing. Another large rockslide loomed ahead of them soon, with a Mole trying to dig through it.

"Hey!" the Mole said as they came close enough. "We were digging through 'ere t'get to my kids, but more rocks fell an' I got seperated from everyone else, and I can't get through here alone," the father Mole told them.

"Don't worry, sir, we have some Bob-Ombs, they'll blast through that rock in no time!" Mario told them. The father Mole jumped at that good news.

"Fantastic! Here, I'll take 'em, you get under cover," he told them. Geno handed him the sack that had all the Bob-Ombs in them.

As Mallow watched, the father Mole lit the bombs, and ran to where they were standing.

"Heads down!" he yelled. Mallow and the other ducked just as the bombs exploded. When the dust cleared, there was a sizable hole where there was once rock, leading even deeper into the mines.

"We'll go on from here, sir. You head back with your wife and the other Moles, we'll be back in no time!" Mario told the Mole.

"I guess I'd be a burden on you fella's, eh? Don't worry about it, I trust you'll be back with Dyna and Mite quickly," he said to them before heading back to the entrance.

Through the tunnel they went and found something interisting lurking around the mines: Bob-Ombs, hundreds of them.

"This isn't normal, what are they all doing here?" Geno murmured. Mario shrugged.

"Got me... but look!" Mario pointed to farther ahead. Mallow saw what he was pointing at, a purple, crazy looking Bomb who was flanked by even smaller Bombs. Cautiously they approched the strange Bomb.

"Good day," it said when they got close enough. "The names Nello... PUNCHINELLO!"

"Punchinello...?" Mallow said confused. "Never heard of ya."

"Me neither," Mario agreed.

"They say I'm a hot head!" Punchinello said angrily. "But I'll show them!"

"Who's 'them'?" Geno asked. This made Punchinello even angrier, but he acted like he didn't hear that.

"You.... YOU will make me famous! All of you!"

"Listen...," Geno tried to plead with him. "We're looking for some lost children, please let us through."

"Oh, I'll let you through allright... When I'M through with ya!!" Punchinello clapped his hands. "MicroBombs! Assemble!" he yelled. At his words, four tiny Bob-Ombs stood before Punchinello, guarding him.

_Is it just me, or is this guy a joke...?_ Mallow thought to himself as Geno took out the MicroBombs with his Finger Shot and Mario blasted Punchinllo with his Fire Orb.

"Not bad, not bad," Punchinello muttered. "But lets make it HARDER." He once again clapped his hands. "Bob-Ombs! Assemble!" he yelled. This time regular Bob-Ombs stood before Punchinello, guarding him as the MicroBombs before him.

"This guy really IS a hot head," Mario commented as he took out the Bob-Ombs and jumped on Punchinellos head.

"Tell me about it," Mallow agreed as he brought his symbols together on Punchinellos head, though he got punched in the face for it.

"Grrrr.... Allright! Time to get SERIOUS!" Punchinello growled angrily. Clapping his hands together frantically he yelled "MEZZOBOMBS!!" Three Gigantic Bob-Ombs came foreward and guarded him this time.

"I think perhaps he is becoming dangerous," Geno said as he blasted a MezzoBomb with his Geno Beam.

"Unfortunitly, I have to agree there," Mallow said nervously as he released his Thunderbolts, taking them out. As he was charging up, he once again had a strange thought: "I'll show them... I'll show them ALL!"

_Did I just READ Punchinellos MIND?!_ He realised with a jolt as Mario blasted Punchinello himself with Fire Orb. Punchinello was downright furious by now.

"ARGH!!!" he screamed. "I must be dreaming, no one can beat me, NO ONE! I'm ruined at this rate.... I didn't want to do this, but you leave me NO CHOICE!"

"I think he's bluffing," Mallow simply stated.

"Bluffing, the fluffy kid tells me, BLUFFING!" he yelled, his face turning red. "But I'm not gonna waste this on YOU."

"Give us your best shot, we'll take it!" Geno said.

"Yeah!" Mario agreed.

"Enough! I have my pride. Now you're in for it!" He clapped his hands loudly. Nothing happened. "Huh?! What the hay?! Why isn't it WORKING?!" he screamed as he clapped his hands frantically. Suddenly, the biggest Bob-Omb anyone had EVER seen fell on Punchinello, squashing him.

"Mario!!! If this thing explodes, we're history!" Mallow said nervously.

"I wouldn't worry, Mallow," Mario stated calmly. "As long as it stays unlit, we're safe."

No sooner had he said that, a little piece of coal hit the wick, lighting it.

The trio stood there horrified for a moment before screaming and running back for cover. With a tremendous "KABOOM!!!!!!!" it exploded.

"Am I alive...?" Mallow asked as he coughed, covered in dust.

"I....think so...," Mario moaned.

"That was lucky. Any closer to the bomb and we would've been made into dust...," Geno said softly. "At least we won the battle, lets just hope we win the war. I wonder where Dyna, Mite, and the Star Piece is...."

No sooner had he said that an orange Star Piece fell down where the bomb was, apparently dislodged from the explosion.

"Well, that just answered my question," Geno said with a laugh. No sooner had he finished saying that the Star Piece began to circle around them, like the first two did, before landing in Marios hands, spinning rapidly, and vanishing.

"Thats three Star Pieces, four to go! C'mon, lets go find Dyna and Mite." At Geno's words, they headed through the mines a bit more, when they saw a Mole girls a couple years younger then Mallow with a baby Mole strapped to her back, pushing a mine cart.

"Ugh.... stupid thing won't move...," she muttered.

"Dyna!!" Mallow called to her before hopping down next to the cart, followed by Mario and Geno.

"Hey!" she called back. "Its Mallow, isn't it? Good t'see ya!"

"Glad we finally found you and Mite. This is Geno, and Mario, I'm travling with them,"

"THE Super Mario? Great! Give the cart a push and we'll be outta here in no time!" as she talked, Dyna jumped in the car, followed by Mallow. Geno and Mario pushed on the cart, and quickly it began to move. Jumping in too, they began to go through the mazes of the mines.

Around tight curves, around bends, jumping over holes in the track they went. Dyna, Mite, and Mallow were all in the front of the cart laughing and enoying the ride. Behind him, Mallow could hear Mario moaning.

As an experiment, he charged his power and aimed it towards Mario without firing Thunderbolts. Sure enough, "I don't like this, I REALLY don't like this," popped into his head, something he wasn't thinking.

_So I really DID read Punchinello's mind, and Croco's too!_ He thought to himself as they went through the mines.

Suddenly, they found themselfs outside, near the top of Mole Mountain, gaining more and more speed.

"Look!" Geno yelled and pointed ahead. Mallow saw it too, the track ended abruptly up ahead.

"STOP, HIT THE BRAKES!!!" Mario screamed as he tried to throw the brakes. But it was too late. They had gone flying off the track.

Faster and faster they went as they fell down towards Moleville at a rapid rate.

"WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!!!!" Mario screamed. Mallow closed his eyes and braced for impact. With an almighty bump, he knew they had landed and opened his eyes.

They were inside a Mole home, with the parents of Dyna and Mite staring at them opened mouthed.

"We're home!" Dyna announced as she and Mite hopped out of the cart. Their parents instantly surrounded them.

"Gracious! They really DID drop in on us!" the mother Mole said as she examined her children. "Oh my poor babies! Are you allright? Little Mite, are you hurt?!" she asked them frantically.

"Ma, he's FINE, we're all fine! We had fun!"

"Fun, fun!" piped up Mite.

"Well if thats the case... Dyna! Haven't I told you enough never to go to the mines by yourself?!" Dyna's mother began scolding her.

"Thats enough now, Ma. Be glad you have them back in one piece," Dyna's father chimed in. "Besides, we haven't thanked Mario and his friends good and proper, either."

"I'm sorry. Mario, we can't thank you an' your friends enough for everythin'," she told them as they climbed out the cart.

"It was nothing...," replied Mario a little shakingly. "And I'm sorry about your roof and all."

"It ain't nothing at all! You leave the repairs t'me!" Dyna's father told them. "Thanks again for bringing our babies back to us. Here." He handed them 30 coins each. "I won't take no fer an answer, ya'll deserve it!"

"Thanks, and bye!" they told them as they left.

"Bye Mario! It was nice seein' ya again Mallow, come back and play sometime!" Dyna called out to them.

"I am NEVER doing that again!" Mario said once they were safely away from the house. Mallow and Geno laughed at his shaky walking from after the ride.

"Are you KIDDING?! That was the best thing I ever did! Lets go back again sometime!"

"Forget it Mallow. Those things are evil! And besides, its sunset, we're going nowhere tonight."

"He's right about it being late, lets sleep in the Inn tonight," agreed Geno. "I think after such a busy day, we'll sleep well!

_Well, we got two Star Pieces and learned about them, not to mention got back Yoshis championdon, and saved Dyna and Mite from the mines. But where are you, Mom, Dad? Are you someplace far away, where I've never been before....?_


	5. Princess Toadstools Peril, the Wishes Up...

Wow! I got this chapter up FAST. See, my parents left last evening, so I got on the computer early and began to write. Due to the fact they weren't supposed to come back until the morning (which they did) I stayed up late to finish this. Really late. About 4:00 am-ish. But hey, I got my 7 hours of sleep and I'm ready to do some more chapters (though the next one probably won't be up until after Christmas). So, until next time....

Chapter Five: Princess Toadstools Peril, the Wishes Upon Star Hill

Early the next morning, shortly after sunrise....

"Thank you, and goodbye!" the trio told the Innkeeper of the Moleville Inn early the next morning. The night had been uneventful, save for the countless experiments to see if Mallow could read their minds.

Which he did, sucessfully. They had joked with him about him being a psychopath for doing it, so he couldn't help but call his new teqnique Psychopath, just as he called his healing rain, well, Healing Rain.

"Its a lovely morning this morning," Geno couldn't help but comment on.

"Indeed, the kind of morning Toadstool would like...," Mario replied sadly.

"I wouldn't worry, I'm sure she's safe, where ever she is...," Mallow did his best to reassure him.

"Hey, look over there!" Geno said as he pointed to a Snifit Trio chasing a beetle with a butterfly net.

"Come back Mr. Beetle! Don't you want to come to Boosters and play?" the one with the net called.

"Yeah, don't run away, we just want to play! We'll take good care of you...," the one behind him called.

"Uh...like.... what they said Mr. Beetle."

Around and around they chased the beetle until it landed on Geno's head.

"Hey, I think he likes you Geno!" Mallow laughed as it crawled over its hat.

"I'm not sure I like _him_ though, so could you please get it off of me?" Geno said, slightly annoyed. Mario reached to pluck it off when-

"Don't you DARE touch that beetle! Its a present for Booster!" the Snifit with the net told Mario.

"Thats right! Hand it over nice and easy!" his friend agreed.

"Uhm, right, like they said... or we won't be your friend!" the third said.

"What do you need this beetle for?" Mario asked them puzzeled.

"Booster really REALLY likes beetles, but he can't catch his own," the net holding one told them.

"Thats right, he's keeping the princess from the sky entertained."

"So we're catching beetles for him."

"So hand it over!"

"And make it snappy!"

"Uhm... pretty please?"

Before the trio could respond the beetle on Geno's head had flown away, leaving the Snifits in hot pursuit.

"No, come back Mr. Beetle!" the first one called.

"We just want to be your friends!" the second called.

"Please now?" the third one asked it.

The moment they were away, the three friends turned to eachother, shocked.

"Mallow! Your grandfather said Toadstool was thrown from the castle too, right?" Mallow nodded.

"Thats right. Do you suppose that the princess from the sky is her?"

"She has to be, I know she is! Quick, where does Booster live?!"

"I'll show you, I went to play there once, c'mon!"

A short time later they were approaching the large tower rising up in the distance, where Booster lived.

"I've been there before, it's full of all kinds of trains and toys and Snifits. Booster loves kids to come and play with him. He's a bit strange, and doesn't appear to be too bright, but his hearts in the right place," Mallow told them as they went through Boosters pass. There was nothing there to really bother them, save a few lone Lakitu's floating high above, but they didn't bother them.

Soon they were few mere feet away from the entrance to Booster's Tower. They saw one of two things. One was someone peering out the door. The other was Bowser!

"Booster has such a nice place... I miss my castle," he was muttering to himself and didn't notice Mario, Geno, and Mallow staring at him in shock. "I miss the good ol' days... Toadstool screaming, Mario rushing in to save her...." He turned and saw the trio staring at him, now trying not to laugh at the tears running down Bowsers face. "Oh GEEZ, its Mario and some idiots!" he yelled in surprise and terror. He muttered to himself for a few minutes, which gave Geno and Mallow the oppertunity to look at Mario, who simply shrugged in confusion. _I can't belive the fearsome Bowser of the Koopa Troop was not only crying, but hesitating to attack us._

"YOU!! What're YOU doing HERE?!" he turned back to them and said at long last.

"Well, we were coming here because we heard Booster had this new princess and we wanted to see-" Mario tried to explain, but Bowser cut him off.

"HAH! A likely story. And as I was going to say, if Toadstool were at my castle, she'd be crying in terror thinking you'd come to save her! GWAHAHA! The thought makes me tingle in happiness, something you'd never understand." Bowser opened his mouth to say something else, but a voice came from far above. A feminine voice.

"Mario!! I'm up here!" someone called. The voice caused both Mario and Bowser to become VERY shocked.

"That voice! Its Toadstool! She IS here!" Bowser and Mario cried at once, before looking at eachother and glaring.

"I thought she got away, but she's been stuck HERE!" Bowser muttered to himself as he looked up high above. He cleared his throat and gave the trio his best mean guy look.

"I'll be returning to my castle now! If I smell you guys anymore I'll faint from the stink!" he told them before stomping off. Once he was out of earshot they turned to eachother.

"Think he's faking it?" Mallow asked Mario, who nodded heartily.

"Most definitly. He's probably waiting for us to leave so he can go after her himself."

"Well, we won't give him the chance!" Geno declared. "Allthough the Star Pieces are important, we need to save Toadstool now before Bowser gets to her."

"Then lets do what I do best: save the princess!"

They ran the last few feet to the door and went to open it, only to their dismay found it locked tight. Banging on it didn't do any good either.

"What are we going to do now?" Mallow wailed dejectingly.

"Don't worry, I have an idea. Lets go back to Moleville and get one of the Moles to help us, they'd get the door open for sure," Geno told them.

"Thats a great idea!" Mario agreed. "Lets hurry before Bowser returns!" They turned and tried to leave, but who did they see but Boswer himself standing in their way.

"What, you're STILL here?! But the looks on your faces... I get it! Stand aside, shorties!" he said as he pushed them aside. Cracking his knuckles, he rammed into the door, knocking it down quite cleanly.

"Yeah, I'm a peice of work, ain't I?" he said, proud his "handywork" and the looks of awe upon their faces. "All this power and looks too, I know!! You're thinking 'A big strong guy like him would be great to have along!' right? Right!" he said without giving them anytime to respond. "So I'm gonna do something I know I'm going to regret later.... I'll let you weirdo's join the Koopa Troop! You can thank me later...."

"Allright Bowser, we'll join the troop," Mario told him. Mallow didn't have to read his mind to know his reasons for agreeing with Bowser, or pretending to anyways. _Not only does this prevent a fight with him, he may come of use getting back the Princess_, Mallow told himself as they walked into the Lobby of Boosters tower.

The Lobby had checkered tile floor, some stairs led to a balcony, the balcony lead to the higher floors. Along it was a lone Snifit called a Spookum, looking at some pictures up there. Behind a desk was the Snifit with the net from earlier.

"Hello there," he greeted them. "Booster's busy right now, so he can't play. Come back some other time, unless of course you want to force your way inside...,"

"Yeah we wanna force our way in!" Bowser growled at him.

"Then you leave me no choice...." The Snifit said. He charged up and blasted the party with Bolts, and weak ones at that.

"Let me show you how a REAL fighter attacks!" Bowser said. Moments later Snifit was knocked out, with just one blow from Bowser. "Pathetic" was all he muttered before walking up the stairs, Mario and the others in tow. Up a flight of stairs they went, and at the top was a narrow room, with train tracks.

"Whats the big rush?" a voice said. Momenets later in came a toy train big enough to ride, with a strange man almost dressed like Santa Claus, but with a black beard, riding it.

"I'm Booster, and this is my famous tower of amusement," he told them. Normally I welcome visitors to play with me and my Snifits. However, a girl fell out of the sky and into my lap recently, and quite literally too, I might add." _Toadstool!_ Mallow realised with a jolt.

"And since then," Booster continued on. "I've been busy keeping her happy and entertained. So I no longer have the time to play. You may continue on though... at your own risk!" Booster rode off, laughing. Running, they ran after the train, only to find a dead end, unable to follow the tracks for it was too high and narrow for even Mario to jump into.

"This way!" Geno called and pointed to another flight of stairs. Up the stairs they went, fighting the Rob-Ombs, a more resiliant cousin of the Bob-Omb, but still vunerable to fire, that attacks.

"Look!" Mallow called once they reached the top. Behind some curtains covering a corner was a Hammer, much more tougher then the one Mario found after he defeated the Hammer Bros. "Masher" was written on the side of it.

"Its good," Mario told them. "It'll make an even stronger weapon then the NokNok Shell, thanks for finding it, Mallow!"

Higher they went, until they found another Snifit guarding a door, the third one.

"You wanna fight? Bring it on!" he told them. He fired the bullets Snifits were famous for at them. But Mario took him out with a single blow from the Masher.

"Lets go! We're not even halfway to the top yet!" Mallow told them.

Higher and higher they went, past more stairs and Rob-Ombs, until they came to a room filled with the portraits from downstairs.

"We're a little under the halfway point. If we can figure out the correct order of the portraits, we gain access to the Elder Room...," Mallow explained to them.

"Gwaaaa! I hate these memory games!" Bowser complained. Geno studied the portraits for several minutes, before finally tapping each one, all in the correct order. The last portrait spit out the Elder Key.

"Wow Geno, you're GOOD at those," Mario complimented him as they opened the door. Geno blushed.

"It was nothing, just a little task.... All Stars are good are remembering," he told them as they entered the room.

Inside the room was a lone Chain Chomp, looking quite sad. Mario tried to walk up to it, but it began to bark like mad, driving him back. Bowser stared at it, the Chomp stared back.

"Guys, she's a bit shy. Look the other way, will ya?" Mario, Geno, and Mallow looked at each other quizzitivly before looking towards the wall. They hadn't been turned for more then a few moments before Bowser called back to them.

"OK, you can turn around now!" They looked back towards Bowser and the Chomp, only to see the Chomp was gone.

"She's been locked up ever since she took a chunk out of Bowser," he explained. "So now she wants to help us stir up a little trouble, gwahahahaha!!" As he was talking, he wipped the Chomp out of his shell and swung her around.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Mario told Bowser and the Chomp as he pocketed her again. "Now, lets get going!"

Leaving the Elder Room and Hall, they went up another flight of stairs, only to find a big opening, with no apparent way up to the next floor, several stories up. In fact, the room was empty, save a Thwomp on a teeter totter.

"I remember this.... You jump onto there-" Mallow gestured to the teeter totter, "and you go up THERE." He pointed up to the next floor. Bowser cracked his knuckles.

"Well, if thats the only way, then lets do it!"

"On the count of three!" Geno said. "One... two... THREE!" At three, they all jumped onto the teeter totter and went flying up to the next floor. They managed to land without any real problems.

Up the next flight of stairs they went, until they entered a simple square room, with the door on the far side.

"This floor is normally used as the game board room, but I bet its boobytrapped now...," Mallow warned them.

"Tough break kid! My little Chomp pal will take care of the traps!" Bowser said confidantly.

Indeed, the floor was booby trapped with Fireballs if they stepped on the wrong tile, but they made it to the other side without any real injuries.

The next flight of stairs, however, was guarded by Chomps.

"Go get 'em, girl!" Bowser yelled as he threw his Chomp to the other Chomps. Quite a Chomp fight unfolded, all the Chomps snarling, biting, and barking at eachother. _I don't think I'm though enough to be a Chain Chomp!_ Mallow told himself as he watched them fight. It was close, but in the end Bowser's Chomp was victorious.

Up the stairs they went into the next room, which had more train tracks.

"Chugga-chugga! Hooouuuoooo!! Chugga-chugga...hooooonk!" Booster imitated train sounds as he pulled in on the tracks. "This is my own personal railway, like it?"

"It really seems to go everywhere...." Mario had to admit.

"Hmm, indeed! I'm quite amazed you made it this far! Yes, you are quite an amazing team! But since you're here, perhaps you can clear up something for me. My bride-to-be is chanting 'MARIOHELPMEMARIOHELPME' over and over again. Is she showing her happiness?" Booster pondered this. "Hey WAIT A SECOND! Maybe 'MARIO' is some other guy! What if one of you is this 'Mario'?! Trying to take my bride away? Take THIS instead!!" Booster said angrily as he began to throw Bob-Ombs.

Running, they left the room and up another flight of stairs, to a hallway with a door at the end. Cautiously they entered the room only to find it empty, and filled with toys and games, and a cage filled with beetles.!

"This must be Boosters room!" Mario said as he walked up to the lone door at the end.

"Mario!" Mallow and the others heard Toadstool cry in joy when Mario went up to the door. "You DID come to rescue me! I'm so happy, I was lonely up here. But now that you're here...."

"Ugh...," Mario shook the door and banged on it. Bowser rammed into it, but it wouldn't budge.

"I think we need Boosters spell to undo the lock on it, but I don't know what it is!" Toadstools muffled voice entered the room.

"I'll think of something," Mario reassured her. While he was thinking, Mallow looked at all the toys.

"Arwing models.... F-Zero racer toys... a Samus Aran doll. He even has Star Wars action figures!" Mallow wailed to Geno.

"Whats wrong with that?" Geno asked as Mallow looked at the toys.

"Its just I like StarFox... F-Zero... Metroid... Star Wars.... and he has all this stuff for it but I don't!"

"Looks like someone's jelous!" Bowser said as he laughed at Mallow's misery.

"Leave him alone! He's only a kid!" Geno defended Mallow. Bowser was about to reply when they heard Boosters voice.

"Hide, QUICK!!" Toadstool told them as they heard Booster approach. In the corner of the room was some curtains. Quickly, they ran over to them and ducked behind them. Moments later they heard Booster and the Snifits enter the room.

"Boss, shouldn't we be concentrating on the girl?" the first Snifit said.

"Right!" they heard Booster reply. "Now about the girl in my life who thinks I should marry her...," _If Toadstool wants to marry him, then I'm a Goomba's uncle!_ Mallow couldn't help but think at Boosters last words.

"Well now? Speak up!" he told them.

"A wedding ceremony would make a great PARTY!" the second Snifit piped up.

"Ah a party! We haven't heard one of those yet. It could be lots of fun! So...what IS a party anyways?"

"He really IS an idiot...." Bowser muttered. Mario kicked him and shushed him to be quiet. Bowser looked like he was ready to kill him when the third Snifit began to speak.

"...you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think" he told Booster.

"Hmmmm drink punch.... Eat cake.... Sounds awfully complicated! I don't know if I can muster the energy to conjure a party. But anyways, lets walk through the ceremony once! REHEARSAL TIME!!" he called. There was much shuffling of feet.

"We will now begin the ceremony," the first Snifit was heard to say. "Walk down the aisle with the beautiful bride-to-be." There was more feet shuffling as Booster and a Snifit pretending to be Toastool walked foreward.

"Wait...," Booster stopped walking abruptly. "Mario should show up now to ruin the fun, we should rehearse that too! Someone, go get the Mario doll!"

The Snifits apparently scurried around, but they couldn't find it.

"It isn't here," the Snifits told Booster.

"Of COURSE its here!" Booster stamped his feet. "You lazy idiots couldn't find water if you were fish! ....Its behind those curtains! Number One, you go and look!"

Everyone jumped at this. Quickly scurring, they managed to avoid the curtain the Snifit looked through.

"It isn't here," he reported after looking through them all.

"I wouldn't go and lose my Mario doll, you idiot! Number Two you looked too!"

It was a bit cramped now hiding behind different curtains, but once again they avoided being seen.

"Nope, it isn't here," they replied after each looking seperatly, at the same time, through the curtains.

"We can't give up! Its GOTTA be around here somewhere!" Booster growled in reply. "Number Three, join them!"

If it was cramped the first two times, it was nothing to the third time. Somehow, Mario sat on Bowsers shoulders, and Bowser held Geno and Mallow each as he dodged the Snifits as all three searched the curtains. In the middle of their searching however, Booster stopped them and without warning, opened the curtain where a very shocked Bowser, Mario, Mallow, and Geno were.

"Wait a second!" he called. "Its right up there! I found the Mario doll!" he said pointing to the top of the curtain where it was. "But... we'll NEVER be able to reach it up there! Oh! The sorrow! What am I gonna do?!" Booster began to cry, causing the Snifits to panic at this.

"Mario, I think we should help him," Mallow said simply.

"What FOR?" Bowser said. "He's been annoying the living daylights out of me all morning! Lets leave it there!"

"That wouldn't be right...," protested Geno. "Look at him cry like that. He might even forget he was after us if we give it back to him."

"You do what you want," Bowser grumbled. "But when he throws more bombs at ya, don't come crying to ME for help!"

Mallow climbed to Mario's shoulders. Mario jumped and Mallow grabbed the doll in one easy try. Hopping down from Mario's shoulders, he went up to Booster and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I belive this is yours," he told him as he handed him the doll.

"Goodness, you're so kind! Thank you for getting me my doll. I'd like to reward you, here," he handed Mallow a sack full of Coins in return. "May happiness follow you all, where ever you go!" Booster turned back to his Snifits. "All right! Enough is enough! Forget the rehearsal, lets get on with the show!"

At his words, the Snifits assembled single file behind Booster, who stood before the door holding Toadstool.

"Okay, here's the Password! 'Tsukasabearmimirusubaru!'" At the strange password, the door opened and they all filed out, but now before Snifit Number Three paused to look at Mario, the doll, and back at Mario again before going out the door too.

"C'mon!" Mario called to his companions. "We're going after them too!"

The fighting heroes ran out the balcony and peered over the edge, looking for Booster.

"Not so fast!" a voice called behind him. Turning, they saw two identicle jesters, one balancing on a ball, the other juggling some knives.

"I am Knife Guy, and this is my brother Grate Guy!" the one with the knives told them.

"Stick around.... You're not going ANYWHERE without a fight!" Grate guy told them.

Knife Guy began the battle by tossing knives at everyone, causing them to put their dodgng skills to the test! Bowser countered by throwing his Chomp at them, keeping him preoccupied while Geno charged his Geno Beam, and fired it at him.

Meanwhile, Mario was jumping on Grate Guy's head while Mario slammed his cymbals together on his head inbetween jumps.

"These guy's are tough, brother!" Grate Guy yelled to Knife Guy after a while.

"Tell me about it, they double teamed us, lets double team THEM!" At those words, Knife Guy jumped on top of Knife Guy, and they began to perform a seris of strong magic moves: they were much tougher then anyone encountered in the tower!

But Mario, Geno, Mallow, and Bowser were far too much for them. Soon they laid in a crumpled, unconcious heap. Once they were taken care of, the fighting heroes peered over the edge. Far below they could make out a trampoline.

"Booster must've jumped I know he did!" Mario said. "And we're going to jump to! C'mon!"

"Mario, don't you think it'd be... safer to go back down through the tower?" Geno tried to plead with him. But Mallow had caught onto Mario's point.

"Don't you see? It took us an hour to go through there... We'll be too late! We've GOT to jump!"

"You got guts kid, I'll jump too!" Bowser agreed. Geno sighed.

"Outnumbered, I see. Guess I have no choice but to jump too."

One by one they jumped down from the balcony and landed on the trampoline. Once they all landed, they took off down Booster's Pass.

"The only way to Marrymore is up Booster Hill. Its quite a large hill, but its not too far from here, lets hurry!" Mallow told them as they jogged onward. At the bottom of the hill they met up with Booster and his Snifits, Booster carrying a pleading Toadstool.

"Uh-oh! Its Mario! We didn't plan on this.... Mario, you and you're friends aren't invited to our wedding. Besides, we still have to rehearse.... I'll be happy to race you to the wedding hall, but..... you'd BETTER not get in my way!"

"Whatever you say...," Mario muttered.

"Ready!" yelled Booster! "Get set.... GO!!!"

Everyone took off, running up the massive hill, dodging the barrels Booster conjured and threw in their way. _I.... am NEVER going out for Track!_ Mallow couldn't help but tell himself as he ran up the hill. Although in the end Booster and the Snifits beat them, they still made it up the hill, terribly out of breath though.

"At least... we made it...," Mario panted as they entered the small town of Marrymore.

"Speak for yourself...," Bowser gasped for air as they slowly entered the town.

Mallow had to admit Marrymore was a beautiful town. _If I ever get engaged, I'm DEFINITLY getting married here!_ He thought to himself as he looked around.

As they began to walk up to the chapel, a Toad woman blocked their way.

"And WHERE do you think you're going?" she demanded as she stood in the path.

"The chapel, where else?" Mario replied and tried to get around her.

"Not dressed like THAT you aren't! I want you to march around right now and buy respectible clothes in the hotel! Off you go!"

Bowser growled and was ready to slug her, but the others pulled him away and into the Marrymore Hotel.

"And how may I help you today?" the Toad behind the desk asked them.

"Errrr, we want some clothes for the... chapel please," Mario told them nervously.

"Ah, of course! We got some nice things right here!" he replied happily as he pulled some clothes out from behind the desk.

"I have a bad feeling about this...," Mallow muttered to Geno as they watched.

Soon after....

"AUGH! I can't STAND wearing this thing!" Bowser wailed as he came out of the dressing room in a suit identicle to the others that Mario, Geno, and Mallow now donned.

"I hear you Bowser.... I feel like a penguin!" Mario moaned as he adjusted the tie.

"Sir, don't you have any... normal clothes?" Geno asked the Toad.

"You mean for after the wedding? Of course! We sell HAPPY clothes!" he told them cheerfully as he pulled out different clothes and shell even, each one with with a smiley face tag upon it. Mario carefully examined the clothes before replying.

"We'll take 'em!" he said as he paid for the suit and clothes.

"I am NOT wearing anything called a Happy WHATEVER!" Bowser hissed angrily as they left the Hotel, walking up to the Chapel.

"Forget it Bowser," Mario replied. "They're very durable and will make good clothes for after we leave!"

Bowser opened his mouth to reply, but was intterupted by screams. As they watched, a whole procession of Toads were kicked out of the chapel by a Snifit, with the bride and groom last.

"Sorry," Snifit Number One told them. "But Boosters wedding is in progress now! We're barricading the door, so don't even bother to try to sneak inside." He slammed the doors shut as soon as he said that.

Mario walked up to the now sad bride and groom, in disbelief.

"Raz? Raini? What happened?!" _Its Raz and Raini! I can't belive I didn't reconise them!_ As he watched Mario talk to the couple.

"Mario, its just terrible!" Raini wailed. "Here we are in the middle of our wedding when some nutcase with a totem pole face kicks us out!"

"I had a girl with him that looked like Toadstool too! Whats going on?" Raz asked Mario.

"Theres no time to explain! Tell me, is there any way into the chapel besides the front door?"

"One, I belive...," an old Toad woman piped up. "Its kind of hidden, but it leads to the basement, where a famous Koopa chef bakes cakes. You can get in from there."

"Thank you very much, ma'am!" Mario hurridly thanked the woman before rushing off, the others in tow.

With a little searching, they managed to find the door the woman told them about and entered it, finding themselfs a set of stairs. Going down into the basement, they saw two Koopa's whipping up a giagantic cake.

"Zee groom-to-be ordered somezing special! Vait until he zee's THIS!" the chef muttered to himself as he worked on the cake.

Ignoring the chef and going up another set of stairs they entered the main hall.

"Halt!" Snifit Number One called to them. "You LOOK like Mario and his friends.... but the doors shut tight! Listen Mustache, you and you puppet, marshmallow-cloud, and overgrown turtle friends can go take a hike! Make like Mario and jump outta here" he told them.

"I AM Mario!" Mario said, his voice full of annoyance.

"Uh-oh.... We have a problem. I'd better go tell Booster!" The Snifit turn and ran to the door, only to run into it, quite literally, and bounce back.

"It won't budge.... Say, wanna help me bust the door down?!" he asked them. Bowser smirked and cracked his knuckles.

"My specialty! On the count of three! One... two.... THREE!!" At once everyone ran, breaking down the door. While Mario and the others skidded to a stop, Snifit Number One crashed right into Snifit Number Two, who was in the waiting room, and both of them went flying into the next room, the Wedding Hall itself!

"Booster sir! Mario and co. are here!" Mallow heard them say.

"You clowns! You don't break down a door when entering a room!" Booster scolded them. "Shut it! SHUT IT NOW! Move it, MOVE IT!!!" he screamed.

"Mario! Is that you Mario? I'm in here! Hurry, I'm scared!!" Toadstool managed to call before the door was slammed shut and locked tightly.

"They have no idea what they're up against! I'll break this door down easy as pie!" Bowser said confidently before ramming up against it. The door shook but didn't budge.

"Grrrr OPEN YOU STUPID DOOR, OPEN!!!!!!" Bowser roared angrily.

"Calm down Bowser!" Geno told him. "I'm sure if we all ram it together it'll open."

"Hey, thats a great idea! Glad I thought of it!" Geno sighed in exasperation. _He's hopeless..._ was all that Mallow could think.

"Remember now, on the count of three. One... two... THREE!!!" All at once they charged the door, which flew open. Not only did they hit the Snifits and cause them to go flying, they also rammed into Booster and Toadstool, who also went flying to the other end of the aisle!

"Owww! Watch what you're doing...," Toadstool moaned and got up. "Great... Now I lost my shoes, my brooch... and my crown! And I'm getting married to some freak!" Toadstool finally lost it and began to cry, right in the middle of everything.

While Booster did his best to calm Toadstool, the party slowly rose from the floor and dusted themselfs off.

"Well, at least the door got knocked down, what next?" Mario wondered aloud.

"Look!" Mallow pointed. "Toadstool looks like she dropped some things.... The Snifits are getting them for her."

"Not if we get them first! C'mon, lets grab Toadstools things!" The group seperated and quickly got the things back from the Snifits before dashing up to Booster.

"Hoho! Here they are!" Booster said happily as he handed Toadstool her missing things. "Hey, WAIT a second! You're Mario! So, come to crash my wedding, eh?"

"Mario!" Toadstool cried happily as she set her crown on her head, stepped into her shoes, and placed her brooch on her chest. "You came to save me!" Turning she saw the others, including Bowser.

"EEEEEEEK!" she screamed. "Whats BOWSER doing here?!"

"What a waste of time.... and I have bigger fish to fry, besides all this. Just hurry it up and lets go!" Bowser growled impatiently.

"Don't worry," Mario did his best to reassure her. "He's pretty well reformed, he won't bother you or anything."

"Well, I suppose I AM in good hands when you're around.... So he's a kiss for my hero!"

"Oh isn't that great!" Bowser muttered before they had even moved. "You're going to kiss HIM when I was the one who saved your skin!"

"What about me?" Booster cried. "I want a reward too! I'll take a kiss. Give me a KISS!"

"Stop it please!" Toadstool pleaded. "All this jabbering makes me confused.... Mario, lets start with you!"

Toadstool began to walk foreward, when Bowser pushed her out of the way, eyes closed.

"Oh no ya don't, Mario! I'M going to kiss her first, not you ME!"

"Not if I kiss her first!" Booster had come around from the other side, his eyes closed too as he moved in. With Booster, Bowser, and Mario with their eyes closed, not one of them noticed as they kissed not Toadstool but MARIO!!!

"Feels like... SANDPAPER!" they called out as they both kissed Mario's cheek. All three opened their eyes at the same time, and at once realised what must've happened. Each of them screamed and wiped their faces off.

It was too much for Mallow and Geno to bear, they both fell over laughing. Even Toadstool was beside herself in laughter.

"Now thats one for the scrapbook!" she commented once she had calmed down enough. "Come on now, lets get out of here before anything else happens...,"

Turning, the team began to leave the Wedding Hall when who should come in, but the chef and apprentice, a giant, yet digusting looking, cake in tow.

"We made the most amazing cake!" The apprentice called. "Just wait until you taste it!"

"Oh, just forget it," Toadstool told them. "The wedding is off, theres no need for it anymore.

"No need for zee cake? But ve vorked zo hard on it.... Ve half vorked all morning on zis cake!" the chef appeared heartbroken, but it instantly turned to anger... towards Mario and the others.

"YOU FOOLS!"

The Chef and his Apprentice began attacking everyone, save Toadstool, who took cover in a bench. However, their punches were not much of anything, though Mallow suddenly noticed the cake move.

The Apprentice must've seen it move too, for he poked the Chef until he turned towards him angrily.

"Vat yo do want?!"

"Chef Torte! The cake MOVED!" the Apprentice said nervously. Torte looked at the cake, then back at the Apprentice.

"Vat are you talking about?! Ist NOT moving!"

"But-"

"Silence! Attack zem!"

"But I KNOW it moved...," the Apprentice muttered as he went back to throwing punches at Mario and the others.

However, a minute later the cake again moved. Running over to Torte, he poked him again until he turned towards him.

"VAT?! Vat ist it zis time?!"

"Chef Torte! The cake moved again!"

"Shut up! Zee cake ist NOT moving, ZEE?!" Torte replied angrily as he pointed to the cake. However, this time everyone saw it, the cake moving.

"Zee cakes alive! RUN!!!" Turning tail, Apprentice and Torte both ran out of the hall, with the Apprentice heard yelling "See? I was RIGHT!" after him.

"Looks like we'll have to fight the cake too," Mario said nervously as the cake advanced on them.

With their guard on, little by little they distroyed the possesed cake using their specail attacks, though for a cake it had powerful magic. Finally when only the bottom section of the cake was left, Snifit Number One went up to it.

"Maybe we should wait...," he said as Number Two and Three approached him.

"This IS Booster's wedding cake...," Number Two agreed.

"Booster'll have a fit if we nibble on it!" Number Three added. Booster walked up and hopped on the cake.

"Hey, Number One! Where's my cake?!"

"Booster sir," the Snifit began to reply. "We're 70 positive that the object you are standing on is the cake."

"THIS things a cake?" Booster looked down at it and hopped off. "Well, everyone! Here's the stumper: how do we eat this? I say we BOIL it!"

"Way too messy!" Snifit Number Two replied. "Why don't you swallow it in one gulp?"

"WHAT?! In one GULP? That's easier said then done... lets do it!" Booster stood back and opened his mouth as wide as he could, waiting for the cake to be tossed in, like a log into a fireplace. _He's nuts_, was the only thing Mallow could think as he watched the Snifits toss the cake into his mouth, and Booster swallow it.

"Mmmm... Delicious! Its so good it makes me want to cry!" Booster managed to choke out after swallowing it. However, he stood up and patted his belly, a grin on his face.

"Well, the wedding is officially over! And it was a complete success too! Lets go home and catch BEETLES!" Booster said happily as they left the chapel.

"Its been a strange day, no doubt, and its not even ten o'clock yet...," Toadstool said as she came out from the bench. "Come on, lets go home! Although I almost married that... THING, I do hope someone marries me someday," she said with a smile as they left the Chapel and Marrymore, heading back to Mushroom Kingdom!

Several hours later.... 

"Well! We're finally back!" Mario happily announced as they arrived in the main Mushroom Kingdom town.

"Seems like it was only a few minutes ago since I was finishing my errand," Mallow couldn't help but say as they walked through the town. He also noticed everyone running and hiding once they saw Bowser walking with them. And although the guards hesitated, they allowed them back into the castle.

"Mario!" Toad said once they got inside the castle. "It looks like you're in one piece! Welcome back!" Then he noticed Toadstool standing beside him. "Puh-puh-puh....PRINCESS TOADSTOOL!!"

"I'm finally home! And with Mario and some wonderful new friends! They saved my life," she said smiling.

"Quickly! Lets go to the Chancellor!"

Toad lead them through the castle to the Throne Room.

"Chancellor!" Toad began excitingly. "The...the Princess.... She's BACK!!"

"Thank goodness!" the Chancellor cried happily. "This as truely been a nightmare! I'm a nervous wreck...."

"I know I worried everyone, and I'm sorry," Toadstool told everyone. "But I'm fine! I can take care of myself! With a little help from Mario, of course!"

"I can't take ALL the credit, we help eachother," Mario replied, reffering to Mallow, Geno, and Bowser.

"Mario, I really hope you know how thankful we are!" Toadstool told him. "But, please, tell me one thing at the very least.... How in the world can you trust... Bowser?"

"Because I have to trust him back!" Bowser guffawed, making all the Toads notice his presence and run for cover.

"MARIO! What are you doing with.... with....?" The Chancellor couldn't say it as he looked between Mario and Bowser. "WHATS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Relax everyone, he's harmless, you have my word," Mario tried to reassure everyone.

"Puh-perhaps...," the Chancellor replied nervously.

"Bowser, perhaps YOU should tell us your story," Toadstool addressed Bowser. "What did you mean when you said you had 'bigger fish to fry?'"

_Forgotten once again...._ Mallow thought glumly as he watched Bowser hesitate to say what he had gone through. Quickly, Geno, Bowser, Mario, and Mallow had a conference for a few minutes before Mallow walked up to the Chancellor.

"Excuse me, Sir... I'm going to help Bowser explain, and the others will comment too if they wish, is this allright?"

"Of course it is! Please, go ahead!" the Chancellor said, nodding his head.

"Allright, well, its like this.... The Princess, Bowser, and Mario were thrown in different directions after a terrible explosion.... Something HUGE crashed through the Star Road high above Bowser's Keep... and went RIGHT into his Keep! It was a giagantic sword! Now Bowser's Keep has been taken over by a bunch of cretins who work for some creep named 'Smithy.'"

"They've thrown me out of.... I mean... I decided to take a vacation from my Keep and they took it over! They CAN'T do that to ME! Anyways, I was working on a plan to get my home back when Mario and these whimps came up to me and BEGGED to be in the Koopa Troop! I had no choice but to let them in. It was pathetic I tell you," Bowser told them.

"What the-? Thats NOT true!" Mario protested.

"Its alright Mario, we know he's stretching the truth," Toadstool told Mario before turning to Mallow. "And...Mallow was it? How about you, why are you with Mario, you seem quite young."

"Well, you see, I was raised in Tadpole Pond by Frogfucius, and the other day, Mario helped me get back a Coin a crook stole from me, and I helped him defeat a creep named Mack here in this very spot. Anyways, I took him to Tadpole Pond so Grandpa could give him advice, and he told me I was adopted.... So I'm with Mario to find my real home.... And my parents.... Thats why I'm helping him."

"Why thats just terrible! I hope you find your real parents soon!" Toadstool told him.

"Thanks, so do I...," Mallow replied, keeping the sadness out of his voice the best he could.

"And...Geno now. Why are you with Mario?"

"The Star Road of Star Haven has been distroyed. I'm here to fix it. Mario and the others are helping me to search for the Star Pieces. I need them to repair the Road...."

"Star...Pieces?"

"The Star Road plays a key role in granting our wishes. Unless we find all the Star Pieces and fix the Star Road, we can kiss our dreams goodbye!" Mallow explained.

"WHAT?! This is horrible news! Dreadful! ....Isn't it?" At the Princess' words, everyone in Mario's party facefaulted.

"Indeed, for example... Say, Bowser kidnapped you. Without the aid of the Star Road, you'd probably never be rescued!" Geno told her.

"Actually, that sounds pretty darn GOOD to me!" Bowser piped up. "Lets just forget these Star...things!"

"Fine Bowser, then you can kiss your precious Keep goodbye then!" Toadstool replied scornfully.

"HUH?! WHAT?! Lets see... Mario can't rescue the Princess without these... Stars! But if he DOESN'T get them back, I don't get a home either, but on the other hand.... AUGH! Run that past me again!"

"Ugh! Just IGNORE that idiot! I don't think I could take a world without wishes.... We need to go and find those Star Pieces, NOW!" Toadstool declared.

"Princess!" The Chancellor cut in. "You CAN'T be serious! You're not THINKING of joining them, ARE YOU? This is sheer madness... You're a princess! What will everyone think?!"

"I DON'T care! Let them think what they want, they need my help! And besides, everythings so... hopless right now," Toadstool sighed. "I'm tired.... I think I need to lie down in my room a while.... Mario...Mallow...Geno...and Bowser, you too.... Good luck!" she told them before walking out of the Throne Room.

"Now then! Thanks to Mario, the Princess is back! I now declare this date to be known forever as.... Hey, wait a minute! You don't suppose...." The Chancellor trailed off.

"What is it Chancellor?" Mario asked him.

"You don't suppose it was this 'Smithy' who attacked our kingdom? If thats the case, we have no reason to rejoice.... In fact, I'm afraid to say this, but please Mario, on the behalf of all of us, PLEASE defeat Smithy! Its the only way we shall ever live in peace again."

"Don't worry, you can count on us!" Mario told the Chancellor before they turned and left the Throne Room, and exited the castle. They had not gone far when-

"Mario!" Toadstool called to them as she floated down from her room via a parasol.

"Toadstool, what are you-?"

"Please, you really belived I was going to lay down? I only said that because arguing would've gotten nowhere. Trust me, I WANT to go with you all."

"But won't they notice your absense if you leave like this?" Mario questioned. Toadstool simply smiled.

"Don't worry, I got it all worked out. They won't even know I'm gone! So please, I can honestly help... I have good healing moves, AND I'll be good!"

"Okay! You can come with us, I'll even make sure Bowser is good," Mario agreed with, the others nodding.

"Great! Lets find us a Star Piece. But.... where could one be?"

"We haven't head about one in a while,"Geno admitted. "It could be ANYWHERE."

"Unless.... we ask my Grandpa!" Mallow suddenly realised. "He'll know where one fell! C'mon, lets ask him!"

"Its a plan then! We go to Frogfucius!" Mario said happily. The party of five turned, and left Mushroom Kingdom, a new goal in mind.

Much later, towards sunset....

"Where did Frogfucius say the Star was again?" Mario asked Mallow as they approached Marrymore that evening.

"Star Hill, which is not too far from here. We can still make it, can't we?"

"I'm afraid not...," Geno shook his head. "Its very late, we'd never make it to an Inn from Star Hill after getting the Star Piece, and who knows what will be lurking in the dark. It'd be best to stay in the Marrymore Hotel tonight,"

"I guess you're right," Mallow was inclined to agree.

"I'll get us a room," Mario told them as they walked into the Hotel. Shortly afterwards, they had a private room to themselfs with five beds and a delicious meal of chicken.

At first Mallow was lively with everyone else, talking, telling jokes, laughing, eating heartily, but he eventually became sullen and quiet, staring out a window at the stars.

"Something is bothering you," Geno said as he sat down next to his friend. "Come now, we Stars know these things, tell me."

"Well, its just.... I don't know what I am anymore," he said with a sigh. "Everyone knows Mario and Toadstool are people, you're a doll in appearance, and that Bowsers a Koopa.... But what am I? I don't want to be called a marshmallow anymore!"

"Well, I have to admit, you do look like one sometimes. But don't get sad, and let me tell you something." Mallow looked at Geno as he began to talk. "Stars don't age as fast as everyone down here does. I am approximatly fifty-three years old, but by Star standards, I am not much more then a teenager. Anyways, Stars know everything that goes on down here from Star Haven. Yes, you too. So we knew when you were born, and when you were.... lets say 'sundered' from your family. So I know what you are, Mallow," Geno told him. Mallow looked at him in shock.

"If you know what I am, why haven't you told me? Do you know where I come from? Who are my parents?!"

"Calm down now. Yes, I know the answers to your questions. But I won't tell you. You see, the guardians of the Star Rod, when you were sundered, looked a little into the future to see if you needed our help or not to return home. And it was forseen you would make it home without the help of the Star Rod, so we let it be. So we know what it is that you are, but it is not us to tell you," Geno explained to him.

"But when will I return home again?" Mallow asked after a minute of quiet. Geno shrugged.

"Who knows for certain? All I can say is have faith, you will return sooner then you think you will." Geno patted his arm a little before getting up and walking back to the others. Mallow looked at the window again.

_Sooner then I think.... I hope you are willing to have me back again, Mom, Dad. Where ever you are...._

Somewhere far, far away, not too far above the clouds....

"Two days now we've been stuck in here...," Queen Nimbus said with a sigh as she sat on one of the cots. King Nimbus sat down nervously next to her.

"You're getting more afraid too, Skyheart?" he asked her. Queen Nimbus nodded.

"Indeed I am. Valentina is working Garro beyond his limits, it sounds like. And those Bandits working in our palace.... And then theres what she said about killing us! I feel like we're being punished for wanting to have a child, Cumulous. I don't know what do do anymore...." she covered her face with her hands and allowed herself to be hugged by her husband.

"Have faith Skyheart.... Mallow will come.... He'll HAVE to come. We wished for his return."

"Yes, we did.... Lets just hope that he comes in time. And that he has enough faith within him to belive we are his family...."

The true rulers of Nimbus Land huddled together fearful, and yet, hopeful.

Very early the next morning, in Marrymore....

"Its not even sunrise yet! Why do we have to be up this early?" Toadstool complained as they left the Marrymore Hotel.

"I already explained this already, because I had a dream last night, that if we wait any longer, Smithy will regain the Star Piece upon Star Hill instead of us," Geno simply told her.

"He's right you know, we can't afford to let the enemy gain many, especially since they know now they're important," Mario agreed with Geno. "And if there are seven of them, as Geno told us before, we already have three of the seven. Getting this one too will put us more then halfway there, and might give us an advantage, somehow."

"Oh, I see, like the home team advantage?" Bowser asked them as they walked along. Geno pondered this a moment.

"I suppose like the home team advantage. Let me put it this way, the more Pieces we have, the more power we'll gain. Physical, and magical, the same will work for the enemy, even with just one. So the more Pieces we regain the stronger we become," he told them.

The team walked along in silence after that, until a slope rose before them, bathed in an almost unearthly light.

"This is Star Hill," Geno told them as they began to go up the gently sloping, but tall hill. Wishes, which were transformed at the Star Road, fall here, and vanish in a bright, beautiful explosion when they are granted. But... It appears the wishes that there were transformed before, and a little after, Smithy distroyed the Star Road. So all the small stars that appear to have a face upon them still have an ungranted wish."

"Thats terrible! Is there anything we can do about it?" Toadstool asked him. Geno pondered this.

"Perhaps. Some of these wishes may be gained by ourselves if we listen to them, a simple touch of a star will replay the wish."

"Grandpa said a Star Piece had fallen here somewhere. It seems like the perfect place for a Star Piece to fall...." Geno smiled at Mallow.

"Yes, it is indeed perfect, and yet ironic. Come now, lets find that Star Piece!"

Mario and the others walked along the Star Hill, with Mario touching each star he saw.

"I wish Mallow finds his true family...," a soft, echoing version of Frogfucius' voice came from one, causing Mallow to smile.

"I hope my baby's cute!" a womans voice came from another.

"Can't wait to start a family!" a mans voice came from the one next to it.

"The hunger! Oh, I need FOOD!" Belome's voice came from one farther up the hill.

"I vant to be a vald class baker," Chef Torte's voice from from a different one.

"I wish I looked more like the frog I'm supposed to be. I also wish I wasn't such a crybaby...," Mallow's own voice came from one.

Immidiatly Boswer snorted and began to laugh loudly. Toadstool giggled a bit, and even Mario couldn't surpass a chuckle. Mallow became furious.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, SPYING ON OTHER PEOPLES WISHES?!" he angrily screamed at the others, bringing them into a shocked silence. Turning, Mallow stomped off away from the others, thunder growling in the distance as he stopped some ways away from the others, staring at a star.

"Hey, are you allright?" Geno asked him a short time later as he approached. Mallow shook his head.

"No one was supposed to hear that wish! And you were all laughing back there, it proves that no one should've heard it."

"I wasn't laughing," Geno told him as the others walked over, unbenownst to Mallow.

"Really?"

"Really. So tell me why you're sitting in front of this star and not one of the others?"

"I'm not sure...," Mallow replied, puzzeled. "I feel drawn to it, as I felt drawn to Grandpa's wish."

"Well, listen to it! It might hold the reason why you're drawn to it."

"I'm not sure if I should...." Mallow said doubtfully. Geno patted his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Hey, its OK. If a Star is telling you it all right to do something, then you may do it. Trust me," Geno told him. Mallow stood up and nodded to show he understood he understood just as the others walked up to them.

"Hey, we're sorry.... It was very wrong at us to laugh at your wish," Mario told him. Toadstool nodded in agreement, and even Bowser grunted a sorry. Mallow shook his head.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, I blew up at you guys...,"

"You have every right to be mad at us, Mallow. We behaved not like friends should," Toadstool said to him. Mallow smiled.

"We'll go along in a minute, but first Mallow wants to hear this wish, he feels drawn to it," Geno told them. Mallow smiled sheepishly at them before touching the wish.

"Oh, please let Mallow find his way home...," two voices, male and female, came from that wish at the same exact time. Mallow stared at it shocked, he had heard those voices before in the past! And yet, he had never heard them before, but he had no doubt who it was.

"This wish! Its... its from my Mom and Dad! They're...they're wishing for me to come home!" Mallow became overcome with sadness, feeling guilty they he was doubting their wanting to have him come home, and for a moment, thought he was going to cry.

_No! I can't let myself cry! Especially not after their hearing my wish. No one can grant that wish for me, nobody except for myself. Just like how I will be the one to grant my parent's wishes. Mom.... Dad.... I'm coming home soon, where ever you might be!_

"Mallow are you alright?" The voice of Toadstool and the others cut into his thoughts. Mallow turned to them and nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine... Come on, lets go find the Star Piece now!"

Turning from the wish they turned to go farther up the hill, though Mallow turned towards that wish one last time.

_I promise...._ Mallow turned from the wish one last time, and followed his friends.

Farther up the hill, Mario listened to a few more wishes as the reached the summit.

"I want to be a great plumber like my brother, Mario!" the voice that had to belong to Luigi, Mario's younger brother, came from one. Hearing that wish brought him to tears.

Bowser, naturally was about to laugh, but the looks of Toadstool, Geno, and especially Mallow silenced him.

And near the top, they saw it, a purple Star Piece. Dashing foreward eargly to claim it, the Star Piece began to circle him and everyone else, just as the three others before him did, before falling into Mario's hands, spinning rapidly, and vanishing.

Moments later, the sun rose, bathing the lands in a beautiful dawn light.

"Thats four, three more to go. Where to next, I wonder," Geno said aloud. Mallow pointed to over the crest and down below, where in the distance they could see a town by the sea.

"Seaside Town, its full of shops there. Grandpa says he went once to visit with some old Toad there, who's as wise as he is. I bet he's seen a Star Piece!" Mallow told them.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Mario said. "Lets get going!"

Over the hill they went, and began the journey down the other side and to Seaside Town and beyond, where more adventures awaited them.


	6. Sunken Treasure

Wow, I got this up EARLY. That means I'm ahead of scheduel now, yay! Anyways, Chapter Six: Sunken Treasure, is pretty straight foreward, but it builds to the most important chapter, the very next one. So, until then....

About two hours later....

"THIS is Seaside Town, the shop community?" Toadstool asked in shocked as she looked around. Not that Mallow could blame her.

Everything was dreary, and the strangest Toads they had ever seen were walking around. The few Toads they dared talked to seemed to know that they were collecting stars and that they only had three more to go.

Finally, they decided to see the village Elder about this, and had just been ushered inside by the Elder.

"Yes THIS is Seaside Town and it took you long enough to get here! I know when people are coming and going and you guys took your dear sweet time in getting here!"

"We were just enjoying the morning, what'd you want us to do, run from Star Hill?" Mario asked him, clearly annoyed by how rude the Elder was acting.

"As a matter of fact YES. You see, I got to my wonderful position in life by...pleasing my superiors, which I do well, thank you very much. So YOU should show your elders some respect. Agreed?!"

"Agreed...," everyone muttered half heartingly. The Elder smiled.

"Good, good.... A large star has fallen into the ocean, and I need it for a...certain perpose, shall we say. I am too old to do it, so...get it for me."

"A star? Where IN the ocean did it fall?" Geno asked innocently.

"By Jonathan Jones' the Pirate's ship, stupid!" the Elder snapped at him. "Now hurry up and got get it, NOW!" he yelled at them as he shoved them out the door and slamed it shut behind them.

"I oughta go in there and teach that jerk respect!" Bowser growled, ready to beat up the Elder. Everyone else had to hold him back from doing it.

"Take it easy Bowser! We'll talk outside of town!" They had to practically drag him away from the Elder's house, but they did manage it.

"These Toads...," he began once they were walking towards the shore. "Do you suppose they're under a spell by Smithy?"

"No," Geno replied. "I belive that the real inhabitants are locked up, and that those goons are some of Smithy's men taking their place. Did you get a good look at them? They were metallic."

"What'd you want me to do? Go up to them and poke them with my Froggie Stick? That'd make them REALLY suspicious."

"No, I'm not sure what we should do, save go and get the Star Piece and THEN talk to the Elder."

They walked along to the sea for a while, until they came to a home-made stall owned by a Shaman.

"Greetings," he told them nicely. "You are on a journey to the sea, yes? I have items that will help you, very nice indeed."

"You're not pulling our leg, are you?" Mario asked the Shaman cautiously. The Shaman shook his head.

"You are cautious, that is good. I know you came from Seaside Town. Ever since the star fell into the sea, the town had been acting strange. I can tell you all have the power to stop them, so I will give you the items to help you stop them." He did not say who "they" where, but he did lay out his stores, which had much better items then Mallow had ever seen in a shop.

"These items," the Shaman told them as they bought them. "Are better then what you buy in Eastren Mushroom Kingdom, yes indeed. Better Mushrooms grow here, restore health more. Maple Syrup restores your magic power far more then Honey Syrup. And my clothes, I put a spell on them, they absorb more damage then regular clothes do, very strong."

Soon, they had their pockets full of Mushroom's and Syrups, and now donned new clothes.

"You were very good costumers, my friends. I tell you about the sunken Ship, where the star feel, and how to reach it. It sank a few years ago because a giant squid attacked it. Some people went to survey it and never came back, though they say their ghosts are still there. There is a cave hidden under a bush, that leads to a tiny rock island out in the ocean. The ship is just beyond it."

"Thanks, we'll remember that!" Mario told them as they left the Shaman's little shop, equipped and ready for action. With a little work they found the cave the Shaman told them about. It was dark and slimey inside, but indeed, after fortyfive minutes, they found themselves on a tiny rock island, in the ocean a couple kilometers offshore.

"Talk about your desert island," Toadstool commented as she peered around. "But where's the ship?"

"If I'm not mistaken, theres the ship out there!" Bowser called as he pointed out. Sure enough, they could see what was the mast of the ship, poking out of the water a hundred meters from the island.

"Well, the hard part comes next, but first, lets eat!" Mario told them. Eagrly everyone sat around and ate their leftover supper from Marrymore Inn that they carried with them as a brunch. It was a nice picnic spot, with Goonie's cawing from the air, and the waves gently hitting the shore, with a nice seabreeze, and a nice, warm sun. It was the perfect place for a nap, Mallow decided after he had his fill.

"Theres no time for any real resting now," Mario told his, as if _he_ was the mind reader and not Mallow. "We've got to swim out to that ship."

"Swim? I'm not sure if I should swim in this dress...," Toadstool said worried.

"Ah, suck it in, it'll do ya some good," Bowser told her as he cracked his knuckles and stretched. "'Cause I'M ready to kick some pirate butt!"

"We'll if we're ready, then lets go!"

"But shouldn't we wait twenty minutes until going into the water?" Toadstool asked nervously, but it was too late. Mallow had already dived into the water, followed by Mario, Bowser, and Geno.

Mallow swam with great agility to the ship before diving down underneath the water to the deck, and entering the ship. Mallow shook himself dry as he watched Mario, Geno, Bowser, and lastly Toadstool enter too.

"Where'd you learn t'swim like that, kid?" Bowser asked in awe.

"I grew up among frogs, they're natural swimmers," he said as if it was no big deal. "But theres a peice of paper here, shall I read it?"

Bowser began to growl a no-way, but Geno intterrupted.

"Certainly, it looks like its from the ships log, we may learn how the ship sank."

"'We're done for.... A giant squid just got a hold of us. This ship's going down fast.... But we've managed to trap the squid in the treasure cellar. The treasure will sink with the ship, but so be it.'" Mallow read aloud to the others.

"Didn't the Shaman say the ship was attacked by a giant squid? How long ago was this."

"Twenty-five years ago, Grandpa told me all about it. He said Johnny Jones was the feircest pirate of all the seas and that he's be trapped here ever since with his treasure.

"Bet we meet him," Bowser said as they set off through the ship.

Indeed, just as the Shaman had warned, it was full of ghosts, yet very dry inside. The ghosts were unaffected by phsyical attacks, so everyone became dependant on their magic to blast them away.

Not far along they found another travel log, one telling them how to open the cellar.

"'The door to the treasure cellar is locked of a password consisting of six letters. In order to get farther into the ship, you need to use the six hints to decipher the password. Uncover the secret of the six hints! But they are provided by different people, so of course they'll be pretty tough to solve, maybe impossible!'"

"I wonder what the password could be...," Toadstool wondered aloud.

"Oh yeah, like they're going to tell us!" Bowser rolled his eyes as he threw Mario into a Dry Bones, making its bones scatter.

"Can't you use some OTHER attack?" Mario grumbled as he rubbed his head. Bowser laughed.

"What for? You're the best weapon I ever had!" he guffawed.

Down a flight of stairs they went, deeper into the ship. The next section had six doors, each one guarded by a ghost, and inside the room was a puzzel.

"We've got to solve the puzzel to get the clue," Geno murmured. Quickly, he got the first puzzel, which was to have the Koopa Paratroopa flying above to push the cannonball onto a floating switch.

"Memo left by Magellean: There is an 's' in the word." The first clue read.

"Well, thats one down, five to go," Mario said as they left that room, and headed into the next one.

The next room had three switches and three moving trampolines and another floating switch in the air. Mario solved this puzzel, you had to press each switch so the trampolines stopped at a certain point, and the cannonball had to bounc from each one onto the floating switch for the clue to appear.

"Memo left by Magellean: It is found on the bed of the ocean." The second clue declared.

The next puzzel was a 3D maze, Toadstool solved this one easily.

"Memo left by DeGama: It has two vowels." The third clue told them simply enough.

In the following room was a strange puzzel, you had to catch all the coins being dropped before they dissapeared, but you couldn't catch the leading coin until it stopped. Strangly enough, Bowser solved this puzzel with ease, not to mention everyone got a hundred coins each.

"Memo left by DeGama: It has four consonants." The fourth clue directly read.

The fifth puzzel was even stranger, there were three cannons and four switches, three too high to reach, even for Mario. Solving this puzzel involved hitting the first switch, then knock each flying cannonball one by one into the switch above it. Naturally Mario got this one down.

"Memo left by Van Doren: At least...two consonants are side bye side." The fifth clue strangly told them.

Inside the last room at the bottom section of the hall was a simple puzzel, several switched were on the floor, and you had to step on them in the correct order. Mallow solved this puzzel after trial and error.

"Memo left by Van Doren: The 'r' comes before the 'l'." The final clue told them. Inside the next room was another peice of paper.

"This is the only hint you get: the password is something found in...the sea.Johnny Jones," it read.

"Oh thats just GREAT, theres only like a MILLION things that live in the sea!" Bowser growled angrily.

"Calm down now," Geno told him. "If we rack our brains we'll think of something that has two vowels, six letters, and an 'r' and an 'l' and 's'."

So they sat there thinking racking their brains for forty-five minutes when Mallow jumped up suddenly.

"I got it!" he cried. "You have to put the clues together in a sort of way to make them fit. Two vowels and four consonants, well, they could be anything, except we know three of them is an 'r', 'l', and 's', which rules out things like sharks. At least two consonants are side by side, which means the two vowels are next to each other.

"So you know that much. Well, the vowels are going to come before the consonants. And the order of them could be anything, but only certain vowels compliment each other, and the biggest one is 'ea'. So now you have 'earl'.

"Now, think. What is on the ocean bed, has an 'earl' in it, not to mention an 's' and another consonant?"

"I get it!" Geno caught on. "Theres only one thing it could be!"

"If you're so smart then, what is it?" Bowser growled tauntingly.

"Pearls!" the two of them cried at once. The moment the word left their lips, the door on the far side of the room opened.

"Good job...I'll let you through.... If you can get past ME, first, that is!" a sinister voice chuckled.

"Mallow, that was amazing!" Toadstool beamed. "How did you figure of all that out?"

"My Grandpa taught my riddles like that. Ones with strange clues that add up if you look at them enough, I mean," Mallow muttered as he blushed.

"Well, I say great job Mallow to figuring out the riddle!" Mario told him causing him to blush. "Now, lets go defeat that squid!"

Inside the next room it was dark and quiet. At first they heard noting, save the sound of their own breathing and dripping water.

Then Toadstool shrieked.

"Mario, its got me!!" She screamed as she was being dragged away by three giagantic tenticles. Geno quickly charged up his Geno Beam and blasted the tenticles, which let go of Toadstool and retreated.

"Thanks...," she muttered quickly, before another wave of tenticles approached. Mallow dispatched this bunch by using his Thunderbolt. That set of tenticles too retreated, but this time, the giant head of a squid came out from a hole in the floor, its many tenticles waving about.

"Welcome...," it hissed. "I am... King Calimari, and this is my little treasure hold. Too bad for you though, none of you will leave here ALIVE."

"Too bad for YOU that you picked a fight with Bowser!" he declared angrily as he cracked his knuckles, before charging at King Calimari with his claws.

However, he didn't get very far, King Calimari did what he does best: squirt ink.

"Why you... that was a cheap shot!" he growled angrily as he wiped ink from his face.

King Calimari didn't give him the chance to recover: all eight of his tenticle's shot out simutaniously, each at a differen't target.

"Fight back! Don't let them get you!" Mario yelled as he used his Fire Orb against a tenticle. Toadstool made sure she didn't get grabbed this time, she slapped any tenticle nearby silly, while Bowser slashed at them, Geno used his Geno Beam, and Mallow Thunderbolted all that came near him.

"You're good...," King Calimari hissed. "But NOT good enough!" He began to spit cannonballs at them now.

"I have an idea! Use you're best attacks at once!" Mario called. He charged up and released bigger fireballs then ever before, Toadstool borrowed a Bob-Omb from Bowser and threw it, Geno released an advanced version of his Geno Beam, Bowser summoned a big Boo to slap Calimari, and Mallow released not many thunderbolts but one giant lightningbolt.

Their attacks worked, King Calimari shrieked and squealed before ducking down into the depths of the treasure cellar.

"My.... attacks got an upgrade," Mallow sounded shocked. Geno smiled.

"We all did, because of the Star Pieces. Come on, lets go explore the rest of this ship."

With a little searching, they found a door that lead out of the treasure cellar. Deeper they went into the ship, fighting not just ghosts now, but strong rats called Alley Rats.

Soon, however, they reached a room filled with water. The only other exit, save the way they came, was underwater.

"Looks like we'll have to swim for it...," Mario muttered. They jumped into the water and swam over until they were directly above the door, before diving. Quickly they flung open the door and swam down the long flight of stairs, before they reached a large room. Swimming to the top, they broke the surface, gasping for breath.

"Look over there," Toadstool said when they finally regained enough air to talk. She pointed to the far side of the room, where a door was. Without hesitation, the party swam to the other side of the room, climbed out of the water onto a platform and through the door.

On the other side was a room, with a staircase leading up to another door. Inside the room, where four sharks with spears and red bandana's on their heads. They were pirates.

"Arrrr! What's goin' on HERE?! Who're you?!" one of them adressed the party.

"I'm Mario, and this is Princess Toadstool, Bowser the Koopa King, Geno, and Mallow," Mario told them. "We're looking for a Star Piece that fell here, do you have it?"

"You're lookin' for STARS is it? We'll GIVE ya some stars!" one yelled as they surronded them.

"And besides, yer outta luck! See, whatever falls into the sea becomes JOHNNY'S property! And he don't like giving his things up!"

"And you know what that means? We ain't lettin' ya through!!" At those words, the pirates charged them.

Mario rain foreward, Masher ready, and nailed one of the pirates on the head. Bowser punched one in the eye and threw him against the wall, while Geno shot another into submission with his Finger Shot. Mallow and Toadstool double teamed the last one, by alternating smacking the pirate and walloping him.

"Arrr! You're stronger then you look...," a pirate moaned as he got off the floor.

"Better warn the upper deck! C'mon mates!"

Turning, the pirates ran up the stairs. Mario and the others quickly ran after them, and split, taking cover along the wall, while another group of pirates dashed down.

"Allright! Where's the intruders?!" one growled as they looked around.

"Right over here, fishbait!" Bowser yelled taungtingly. This enraged the pirates, as they charged up the stairs. Bowser, however, was ready. He grabbed a misplaced barrel on one of the higher steps, and rolled it down the stairs to the pirates, flattening them.

"Good one, Bowser!" Geno smiled at Bowser. Bowser, in response, swelled to his full hieght and pounded on his chest proudly.

"All in a days work when you're a Koopa! C'mon!" Bowser raced up the steps as he talked, the others not far behind.

They walked inside the next room, which was filled with pirates in blue bandana's. Sitting in a chair, holding a glass of red wine was the biggest pirate Mallow had seen yet: Johnny was a fearsome sight indeed!

"So you're THE Mario, eh? Arr, harr, harr...! Not much to look at," Johnny laughed once they filed inside the room. A marine-blue Star Piece was floating on a table in front of them.

"This here star fell into MY SEA, so its MINE! You want it, you'll have to fight for it!"

"We don't want any trouble," Geno told him. "We just want that Star Piece, its not yours to keep. Hand it over now and no one will get hurt."

"The only one thats going to get hurt...," Johnny put down the wine and picked up a trident. "Is YOU!" Running foreward, Johhny and the pirates charged into battle.

"'ey, I got little cloud-boy over here!" a pirate called as he stabbed at Mallow, causing the other pirates to laugh. "Arrrrr, har, harrr! You're a little too tiny to play with Johnny, so I'll teach ya not to play with the big-boys!"

"I may be little, but I'm just the right size to kick your butt!" Mallow angrily replied, causing the pirate to laugh heartily.

"Oh, you're little allright, cloud-boy! But you're too BIG headed to see when you're out of your league!" the pirate slashed at Mallow, giving up a cut on his arm. In response, Mallow punched him in the face.

"I think you're about to learn YOU'RE out of your league!" Mallow told him as he charged his energy. "This kid'll be a piece o' cake!" flowed into his mind as he charged. Moments later he released it into a big lightning bolt, frying the pirate.

"Ugh.... Kid you're tough! But as long as Johnny keeps fightin', so will I!" All dignity aside, the pirate tossed his spear to the side and began to tussle on the ground with Mallow. Neither Mallow nor the pirate quit until-

"ENOUGH!" Johnny yelled, making all the pirates stop fighting and get up. As Mallow go to his feet, he saw Bowser had a bloody nose, as did the pirate he was fighting, along with many bruises. Geno was putting one of his hands back on his arm, and Toadstool was using Heal on herself. Mario looked exhausted, but not as bad looking as Johnny. _Mario won! Thats why Johnny made the pirates stop fighting, it was over! _ Mallow suddenly realised with a jolt. As he watched, Johnny sighed and began to speak.

"Mario, you and your friends win. I have never face any as strong as you where, you earned this star. Just think of it as a souvenir of our fight!" as soon as he finished speaking, the star began to circle around everyone, even the pirates, healing everyone's injuries, before falling into Mario's hands, spinning rapidly, and vanishing.

"In the next room," Johnny gestured to a door behind him, "is a cannon. Hop inside and you'll be blasted back t'shore in no time. Give it a try, go on!"

The party filed into the room. One by one they climbed inside it and the pirate Mallow fought with fired it. Last was Mallow, but the pirate stopped him from climbing in.

"Wait, I wanted to tell ya something, cloud-boy."

"What is it?" Mallow asked.

"I... just wanted ter tell ya you fight good. You may look like a kid, but you don't fight like a kid! I don't even know yer name, but I don't care, good fight."

"My name's Mallow, and thank you, you fight good too." Mallow told him as he shook his fin.

"Mallow, eh? Hmm.... Me name's Magellean. Anyways, good luck, kid."

"Magellean? The one who wrote the first two clues?" Mallow asked as he climbed into the cannon.

"Thats right! Good luck, Cloud-boy Mallow!" Magellean told him as he lit the cannon.

"Wait! Why do you keep calling me cloud-boy?" Mallow called from inside the cannon.

"Yeh mean ya know don't know?! Does that mean you're-" Magellean never got to finish, the cannon fired, and Mallow was blasted out of the ship, out of the water, and back to dry land, where the others were waiting.

"What took ya?" Bowser asked him as soon as Mallow landed. Mallow stretched, he felt cramped from being in the ship for so long.

"I was talking to the pirate, he just told me a good fight, thats all. So, where too?"

"While we were waiting, we decided we'd go to Seaside Town and have a good talk with that village Elder and see what it is he's up too!" Toadstool told im as they began to walk towards Seaside Town. Mallow nodded.

"Thats a good idea! Lets find out what he's up too!" Things were pretty quiet on the way back to Seaside Town, but who should they meet the moment they walked into town, but the Elder and the other townspeople.

"Eee hee hee!" he cackled. "You found the star! Well done! But your journey ends here! Do you know who I am?!"

"We know you're not the REAL Elder, thats who!" Mario told him. The 'Elder' laughed at this.

"You're smarter then you look! I am Yaridovich! A proud member of the Smithy Gang! You see, your search for the stars has worried Smithy indeed. So if I take back that star, I'll earn major brownie points, I get ahead like I always have in the past! Let me have that star, save yourself a humiliating defeat.

"Can we...disscuss it first?" Geno asked. Yaridovich laughed.

"Allthough there is nothing to disscuss fine, knock yourselves out!" Quickly, the party turned and huddled together, talking in low voices.

"I have a plan," Geno told them. "Give him the Star Piece. But he won't have it for long. When he goes to make his escape, will run after him and surprise him, and we'll use that for our opening move. If he's not suspecting it, we might get the advantage!"

"Advantage...I like that! I'll go with the plan!" Bowser agreed first. Mario nodded.

"Me too! I'm in!"

"Count me in too!" Toadstool added.

"I'm with you guys," Mallow let himself go last in politeness as per usual.

"Allright, here's how you re-summon the Star Piece," Geno told Mario. Once Mario understood, he nodded, and they turned back to Yaridovich.

"You win... here's the Star Piece," Mario told him, in fake sadness, as he re-summoned the Star Piece and handed it to him.

"Eee hee hee! And to think I got it without even breaking a sweat! I'm such a genius, it scares me sometimes. No wonder Smithy thinks highly of me!" Yaridovich turned to the other fake townspeople. "Allright gang, listen up! We're returning to the castle. Our ride should be here now, lets go!" Yaridovich and the others ran to the sea.

"Lets wait a minute, then we chase after them," Geno said. It was probably one of the longest minutes of Mallow's life, though it wouldn't surprise him if his friends felt the same way. But finally, the minute ended and they ran after Yaridovich.

Luckily, when they made it to the sea, he hadn't left yet.

"Blade's late," Yaridovich was muttering. "What could be taking him so long? We need to get out of here." Yaridovich looked around to see where Blade was, but instead saw Mario and the others, looking quite angry.

"Oh this is JUST great, they caught up with us!"

"Its over, just hand back over the Star Piece now," Geno told him. Yaridovich just laughed.

"Oh no I won't! I worked too hard to get this! Allright then, lets swim for it, though we might rust a little." Yaridovich and the others turned to the sea, but had barely taken a step foreward when who should pop out of the sea, but Johnny and the four pirates they fought.

"Not so fast there! That stars a gift to me mates, Mario, Geno, Bowser, Toadstool, and Mallow!" Johnny snarled at him as he and the pirates stepped foreward, spears and trident ready. "You spineless dogs have no code of honour! I'll make ye walk the plank fer that!"

"Johnny, maybe we should let Mario and his friends wrap things up here, they are quite powerful," one pirate, Magellean himself, told Johnny. Johnny thought this over for a minute.

"Good idea, I'm counting on ye!" Johnny told them as he stepped back. Yaridoich cackled wickedly.

"Looks like we get to take our disguises off now. GROUP FORMATION!" As he yelled this, the Elder outside fell off and disentigrated, leaving only a large metallic head.

Despite the fact he was expecting this, Mallow screamed, not expecting the head. All the other town's people outsides fell off too, revealing, legs, arm's, hands, feet, and a spear. Leaping foreward, they all combined forming the true form of Yaridovich, the spear.

"Eee hee hee! You're journey ends here!" Yaridovich laughed and lunged foreward with his own spear. Mario and the others, however, sidestepped it easily.

"Oh ho ho! You're tricky-uns all right! I'll just use my specail move.... HAAAAAA!!!" Yaridovich created an EXPLOSION of water, which not only soaked everyone, but injured them. Toadstool, however, quickly healed everyone with Group Recovery, which got everyone back on their feet.

_Yaridovich got wet with that attack too.... If I use my new thunderbolt's correctly perhaps I can give him a real shock...._ Mallow quickly charged up. "They'll be down in no time!" flowed into his head, but Yaridovich's thought only caused him to smirk. Moments later he released his attack, which, as predicted, shocked him good.

"Yeowch! That actually hurt. If you all attack like that, you just might beat me, something I can't let happen. So I'll have to use my signature move. Aren't you lucky?" Yardivich laughed, and split into two seperate Yaridovich's.

"Either my eye's have gone screwy, or I'm see'n double!" Bowser said as he looked between the two Yaridovichs.

Both Yaridovichs laughed and began to attack them. One Yaridovich attacking was bad news already, but two was almost too much to handle!

"Mallow!" Mario called to the dodging Mallow. "I have an idea, use your Psychopath to find the real one!"

"Thats a great idea!" he called back. Instantly he charged his energy and directed it as one of the Yaridovichs, the one on the left. But nothing flowed into his mind. He thought he couldn't do it anymore except, when directed at the one on the right, "They'll never find me!" flowed into his mind. _Its the one on the right!_ He realised with a jolt.

"That one, right there!" he yelled, pointing at the one on the right. Immidiatly that Yaridovich was bombarded by fireballs, beam particles, and a giant Boo. The left Yaridovich vanished almost instantly.

"Grrrr, you actually figured out I was the real McCoy, I congragulate you on that. But I will still beat you anyways!!" Dashing foreward, Yaridovich began to rapidly jab at everyone, until Bowser managed to grab his spear and bend the metal in half.

"Too bad for you ya got me in a bad mood! You see, its one thing to fight me, its quite another to fight me using CHEAP moves!" he growled.

"Oh excuuuuse me! I think someones a little sore because they lost their little "Keep" AND because they're so pathetic they think that the stronger one is using cheap moves."

"Why you metal toothpick! I'll skin you for that!" Bowser yelled as he slashed at Yaridovich viciously.

"I don't think we have to fight anymore," Mario said. "Bowser looks like he snapped, it won't be long until Yaridovich goes down."

Indeed, not even a few minutes later Yaridovich suddenly screamed.

"NO!!! MY....PROMOTION!! AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" With a mighty explosion, Yaridovich was defeated, leaving a large pile of coins and a key behind, not to mention the Star Piece.

"Jerk.... He got we he deserved," Bowser grumbled as Mario reclaimed the Star Piece and pocketed the coins.

"Hmm, do you suppose this key will unlock where the REAL townsfolk are?" Toadstool asked as she picked it up. Mario nodded.

"Yeah, lets free them, I bet where ever they're being held it isn't anywhere good...," Mario turned to go but Geno stopped him.

"Johnny left us a note, look!" he said pointing to a palm tree with a peice of paper stuck on it by a spear-head. Mario pulled it off and read it aloud.

"'To Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser, and Toadstool, Knowin' you guys, it must've been a breeze beatin' up Yarid, eh? My pirates tell me they saw a huge AX flyin' across the sky. It's probably one of Smithy's nasty friends, so go get 'im! We're all countin' on all of ya! Well, its too bright up here, even with the sun goin' down. I belong underwater in me ship. Everyone of you is allowed to visit when ever you please, it'll me my honour. Yer true mate, Johnathan "Johnny" Jones'."

"He seems like a nice guy, I think we WILL have to visit him someday," Toadstool told said they began to walk along. Mallow, however, saw another peice of paper, but this one was adressed to him along. He quickly pocketed and ran to catch up to the others.

A short time later, back in Seaside Town....

"Over here, try this large supply shed!" Geno called as they were looking for the townsfolk. Sure enough, the key fit in the lock, and they opened the door. Inside it was full of Toads, young and old, a couple Moles, and even a Snifit. Once the door opened they immidiatly went to the door.

"Phew, thank you so much! I've had enough of cramped, dirty places like this!" a young female Toad said as she left the shed, followed by a few others.

"Hey, thanks! You got us out of a real jam! I run the Inn, come whenever you please!" a young male Toad called as he left, several more behind him.

"It was mighty unpleasant in here. Thanks for helpin' us out," one of the Moles told them as they left.

"I run a BEETLE emporium! Come on by whenever you want an insect pal!" the Snifit told them as he left.

Finally, the only one left was the Elder, who shook all of their hands.

"Ah, Mario! Thank you from saving our little town of Seaside. Please, come to my home, and we'll talk there."

Following the Elder out of the shed, they walked up to his house. Inside, he pulled five chairs up to a table.

"Please, sit down, your legs must be tired. Now, please tell me why you have all come so far to Seaside, I'll get some food ready while you talk."

Mario became the spokesperson, and began to explain why they were all on this quest, and searching for the Star Pieces. While he was talking, the Elder prepared a hearty meal of stew.

"Its not much, but we've been in that shed a while now, so this is all I've got left, I'm sure Yaridovich ate most of my food, I had more then this. Don't worry, it'll taste fine."

Mallow took a bite, it WAS good, and refreshing. He didn't realise how hungry he was until he was eating.

"I've been doing some thinking while you were telling me your story," the Elder talked to them as they ate. "And I'm not sure, but I think I know where your next star is. Near here is Land's End, the farthest reach of Mushroom Kingdom. Its called Land's End because its the last place in Mushroom Kingdom. Anyways, deep withen Land's End there is a town of reformed monsters, called Monstro Town, though up until about seven years ago, it was called Miramio Town."

For reasons unkown, Mallow felt his spine tingle when he hear the name "Miramio Town", though he couldn't say why. He had heard of Monstro Town before, but never felt that way before, but then again, he had never heard it called Miramio Town either.

_But Grandpa told me he found me ten years ago, when Monstro Town was Miramio Town. What is THATS where my parents are?!_

"Anyways," the Elder was speaking again, "I am telling you this because, shortly before Yaridovich came yesterday, a mouse came by and spoke to me. And I remembered he was bragging about a star of theirs that they had. Now, I'm not exactly sure where this town is located in Land's End, but its beyond the Land Bridge. Its late now, so don't even think about leaving tonight, many non-reformed monsters live in Land's End too, bandits among them. You can stay here the night."

"Thank you very much," Mario told the Elder. "I think we will stay the night, its far too late to travel somewhere we're not sure we're going."

"Good, good," the Elder said. He turned and began to walk upstairs. "I'm going to go get your rooms ready, please, make yourselves at home, do whatever you'd like."

After they had eaten, Mario and Bowser arm wrestled while Toadstool cheered Mario on. Geno meditated in a corner, and Mallow ducked to a quiet, dark room in the house to read his letter.

"To Mallow, Hey, this is yer matey Magellean here. I wanted ter send ya a seperate note, so here it is. I wanted ter tell ya that I saw you blast Yaridovich with your 'little' shocker, and I have to say ya did a good job. About what I was going ter say earlier, well, Johnny said its not my bussiness ter tell you. But I think you'll find out soon enough anyways. I also wanted ter say that the water brings us news, so I did a little talkin' and found yer from Tadpole Pond and lookin' for yer real family, so all I have ter say is good luck. When you get back to yer true home, you and yer family can come visit anytime. Yer one and only matey, Magellean"

Mallow smiled as he finished his letter. It felt good to be considered someones friend, very good indeed, especially since Magellean wished him luck to find his family.

_But he knows who they are, doesn't he? I guess he would, since he hears ocean news too, and Grandpa doesn't, not to mention he hears no news about Land's End either. And they're waiting for me. And I know it will be tomarrow when we finally meet again, I just know it! Mom, Dad, I'm coming home!!_ Getting up and pocketing his letter, he walked back to the living room.

Looking around, he saw Mario and Bowser seemed to be having a push-up contest this time, with Toadstool cheering Mario on. Geno was watching them, mildly interisted. Smiling, Mallow walked over and sat next to Geno.

"Doing some thinking again, eh?" Geno said once he sat down. Mallow's face turned red, while Geno chuckled. "I told you Stars are good at knowing these things. So, you want to ask me anything again?"

"Yeah.... I want to know more about the Star Road, and its guardians, if its not too much trouble, I mean."

"No, its not. Now, where should I start...."

"Tell us about the guardians, Geno," Toadstool said as she walked over, interisted.

"The guardians, allright. Well, there are seven of them, and they are much more larger and powerful then a normal Star, for their power comes from not only wishes, but directly from the Star Road. They're very bright too, for they shine more then a normal Star does. We call them the Seven Star Spirits."

"Star... Spirits.... I think Grandpa told me a legend about them once! He told me the Star Spirits have powerful magic that lets them freeze time, or create shooting star showers, and heal things, not to mention their voices are so lovely when they sing it lulls people to sleep."

"Frogfucius is right, they can do things like that, and more. But that part of their power comes from the Star Road.... So in a way each Star Spirit is represented by the Star Pieces."

"Do the Star Pieces represent anything in particular?" Mario asked, for by this time Mario and Bowser were now listening too.

"As a matter of fact, they do. The first Star Piece you found is Friendship, the second is Courage, the third is Strength, the fourth is Love, the fifth, the one we just recovered, is Power. The missing two are Hope and Wisdom, but where they are I cannot say...."

"Hey, don't worry, we'll find them! We're all a team, and working together, we'll find them all!" Mario told him. Geno smiled.

"I couldn't ask for better friends then you. Thank you very much,"

Earlier that day, in a certain cloud kingdom....

"I don't like this, Shy Away," Valentina paced around the throne room in the Nimbus Land palace. "If what you're saying is true, the inhabitants of Land's End are becoming suspicious far sooner then I had planned on, as is all these stupid Nimbians!" As she talked she grabbed a dart and aimed it at the target: an old photograph of King and Queen Nimbus with Mallow, before he was taken. She missed King Nimbus' head by a few centimeters.

"What are we going to do, Queen Valentina?" Shy Away asked nervously.

"Its a week earlier then I wanted to do this, but we have no choice, tomarrow I will announce they're dying, and Dodo as Prince Mallow."

"But what if they don't fall for Dodo being the prince?"

"I'll MAKE them belive it! I'll give them no reason to doubt me, the idiots. And if they do, well, I'll lock them away! ALL who defy me! Dodo, get over here. ....Dodo!! .........DODO!!!!!!!" she shrieked. Finally, the bird walked into the room.

"Listen to me, Dodo! Tomarrow is when we tell them you're Prince, OKAY?! That means you have to ACT like a Prince! Do you GOT THAT?!" Valentina yelled at him. Dodo managed to nod, and she smirked.

"Good, now be a good dumb bird and get me some low-fat food, NOW!!" Turning, Dodo ran out of the room, to the kitchens. Valentina chuckled.

"Soon, Shy Away, soon you and you Bandit friends will have all the riches I promised you. But all of that is OFF if you let any one into Nimbus Land, got that?!"

"Y-yes Q-queen Valentina. We planted all the Smilax seed's we have, rounded up some Chomp's in the lower chambers.... We also made sure the bee's are nice and angry!"

"Thats not enough. You're a Shy Away, so you're good at gardening, RIGHT?!"

"Of course Queen Valentina, the best in Mushroom Kingdom!" he replied proudly.

"Good, so MAKE some good water that will make a Smilax bigger then normal, a Mega Smilax. There are rumors of a very strong fighting party making their way west across Mushroom Kingdom. I will NOT have them come to Nimbus Land and wreck my plan!"

"But.... What if the REAL prince comes?" Valentina laughed.

"Get serious. He probably got eaten by a beast after you lost him, who cares?"

"But there was never any evidence, and you've heard all the rumours theres a young Nimbian in the center of Mushroom Kingdom that no one knows how it got there, about twelve years old...."

"Okay, FINE, maybe he is the prince, so what? Why would he want to come HERE for? And furthermore, few Central and East Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants even KNOW about Nimbus Land, heck, even some in WEST Mushroom Kingdom haven't even heard of us, save Mira-I mean MONSTRO Town. So unless he makes it to Monstro Town, which he'll never do, we have no reason to even think about worrying...."

Valentina picked up more darts and took aim: this time each one found its target in the head of the king, queen, and long-lost prince. Valentina smirked.

"Bulls-eye. Trust me, we have nothing to worry about, so relax," Valentina was indeed confident. Perhaps...TOO confident.


	7. Mallow's Destiny

The next morning...

"Thank you for everything, sir!" Mario told the Elder at the edge of Land's End, where he had taken them as promised. The Elder smiled and shook his head.

"No, you're wrong, we the people of Seaside cannot thank you enough! It is my regret we did not have more things to give to you."

"Please, we can only carry so many things, and these new weapons and items are fabulous," Toadstool said. She was of course reffering to all the gifts everyone had given them: Mushroom's and Maple Syrups, and new weapons to fight with: an even better Troopa Shell then before for Mario, a Parasol for Toadstool, a new, more durable Ribbit Stick for Mallow, and The Double Rocket Punch for Geno (they had nothing suitable for Bowser, as he stated himself).

"Yes, I quite understand," the Elder replied, nodding. "Please remember to keep your guard up, the monsters of Land's End are quite powerful, keep your eyes peeled for Monstro Town, and I should warn you, there is a report of strange happenings... SOMEWHERE above Land's End."

"Above? What do you mean?" Geno tried to ask, but the Elder had already turned and was walking away, though he did turn around, wave and call "Good luck!", and went along to hurrying along the path.

"Wonder what his problem his," Bowser growled as they began to trek through the rocky terrain of Land's End.

"He's probably nervous about the monsters who live here," Geno replied wisely. Bowser just "humphed!" and kept on walking. Far below the cliffs on the left was the sea, hundreds of feet below.

Land's End did indeed have powerful monsters: Chows, a stronger version of the K-9, and Geckits, crazy gecko's, attacked on sight, though working together, they posed no problem. Neither did all the empty cannons, pointing towards the sea, which were apparently unloaded. But, soon after they began to trek along, Mallow was overcome by a funny feeling, and his heart began to pound.

Forty-five minutes into Land's End, the path turned inland, somewhat, and it became Sub-Tropical, like the vast majority of Central and Western Mushroom Kingdom was. This time, the monsters that attacked were giant Wasps, like the ones in Forest Maze. But they were easy to beat, they never let them close enough to use their stingers (good thing too!).

As they walked through the Sub-Tropical path, they climed higher and higher, and as it did so, the temperature rose too. Soon, a large rope bridge crossed a large chasm, to the other side, which was no longer too tropical even realitivly!

"I know what this is!" Mallow said as they approached it. "This is the famed Land Bridge of Land's End. On the other side is a desert, and somewhere there is Monstro Town."

"A desert? Just great... Thats JUST what I wanted, hot ground on my feet and sand in my shell!" Bowser grumbled angrily. Toadstool patted his arm.

"I don't like the idea myself, but if I can go on, so can you,"

"Hmmm... Turn back, lose my troops and am stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere, continue on, I get to be with Toadstool. On the other hand, no hot ground or sand getting in my shell, but if I go-"

"Just hurry it up, already!" Mario, Toadstool, and Geno said angrily. Bowser pouted and shuffled along, which caused Mallow to stifle a snicker as he followed behind him on the bridge, last in line.

So through the scorching desert they went. And the farther and farther along they went, the more Mallow felt like he knew the area, even though he'd never been there before.

"Guys," he said after more then fifteen minutes in the desert. Mario and the others turned to look at him. "Have you ever been someplace you know you haven't been to before, but you know it perfectly?" he asked them. Mario nodded.

"Sure, the first time I ever went to Yoshi's Island I knew the place head to toe. I didn't know until later that I was there when I was a baby and that the Yoshi's saved me and Luigi."

"The first time I ever went to Sarassa Land I though I was walking in a mirror version of Eastren Mushroom Kingdom," Toadstool added.

"So why do you ask us this, Mallow?" Mario asked him. Mallow looked around.

"Its because, even though I've never been farther into Western Mushroom Kingdom from Boosters Tower, I know Land's End perfectly. My heart began to pound when I heard the name Miramio Town and not Monstro Town, though I never heard of it being called Miramio either. But if I am guessing correctly, then maybe I come from Land's End!" Mallow said excitingly. Mario smiled.

"Well, now we have more reasons to go to Monstro Town, don't we? Just don't go AWOL on us now when you find them." Mallow just laughed.

"No way! I won't leave until we defeat Smithy, you'll need my help to defeat him, after all."

Farther along they walked. By the time it was begining to approach eleven o'clock, something other then cactus or mirages rose out of the dusty haze.

A Rat Funk mouse.

Wearily they approached, weapons ready. But the mouse simply smiled at them as they approached.

"Its a lovely day, isn't it? I've been traveling around for a while now, and it feels good to be almost back home," he told them. Everyone relaxed when they saw it wasn't going to attack. _He must be the mouse that the Elder told us about,_ Mallow realised.

"Would that home by any chance be Monstro Town?" Geno asked. The mouse smiled.

"Indeed it is! You're looking for the way, aren't you? I can tell you are. Although I cannot take you there myself, I can tell you how to get there."

"Well, tell us then!" Bowser said almost impatiently. The mouse chuckled.

"No need to get angry. You simply find the sand whirl that leads underground. The wrong ones have a nasty Piranha Plant underneath, but the right one leads to a cave and underground temple. Monstro Town is just around the corner from the temple. I'll see you back at Monstro Town!" he told them pleasantly before hurrying along.

Quickly they went after him, but he was fast and had already dissapeared in the haze. A short time later they found many whirlpool like design in the sand. But alas, each one they tried had a Piranha Plant underneath, which snapped at them with glee. After thirty minutes of moving along, searching, they were ready to give up, until a large cliff rose up into the haze. And who should be looking up at it, near a sign and arrow that said "climb here" but their little mouse friend.

"Quite an incredible sight, isn't it?" he said once he noticed their prescense beside him, looking up the cliff also. Mallow's heart was pounding more then ever, and he felt the strange urge to climb up there.

"Its like looking up the edge of the world," Geno commented after a minute. The mouse smiled.

"Thats why this area all along here and the shore is called Land's End, the people who settled up there and in Monstro, then Miramio, thought so too. But its too spooky for me! I'm heading back to Monstro Town now, see ya there!" he told them before darting off, down a whirl of sand.

Following him as fast as they could, they made sure their eyes never left that whirl of sand until they reached it.

"So, uh, who goes first? 'Cause I want to laugh at whoever gets their butt bitten by a Piranha this time!" Bowser said with is tough-guy routine, though Mallow saw through it.

"I will," Mario declared as he stepped foreward. "If I don't come up with a Piranha comming after me, then its safe," he told them. Moments later he has jumped down the whirl of sand.

They waited an entire minute before Toadstool stepped foreward.

"If Mario hasn't come back by now, it must be safe," she said before she too jumped down. Geno followed, and Bowser pushed Mallow out of the way and jumped down before him.

_Last again,_ he thought glumly to himself as he finally jumped down. Withen moments he found himself in a cool, underground cave where the others were waiting.

Immidiatly afterwards they began to trek through the cave. Soon, however, the rock of the cave turned into bricks, and a long, spiraling staircase going downwards, with carvings all along the side. _Those carvings look fimilliar_, Mallow thought to himself as they descended.

Soon they reached the bottom, which was simply nothing more then a hall, and a very long one at that.

"Who's idea was it to built this thing so dang long?" Bowser mumbled as they walked around. Toadstool rolled her eyes.

"If you're tired Bowser, we can take a break, all you have to do is ask," Toadstool told him. Bowser snorted.

"Hah! The only thing I'm tired of is looking at all these dumb carvings. But if you're tired Toadstool we can rest."

"I'm not tired, and hush, theres something up ahead," she said as the hall opened up into a large room. And who should be sitting in the middle of the room but a certain creature with four eyes and a long tongue.

"Buh-buh-buh-buh..." Mallow stuttered in pure terror as he saw Belome. Now he knew why the carvings looked fimilliar. This Temple was dedicated to Belome, the same creature who tried to eat him. And he also knew what Belome had meant by "Even though you defeated me, you still haven't beaten me!" back in Kero Sewers.

As Mallow and the others watched Belome got up and approached them, much to Mallow's horror.

"You all look so...tasty. Time for a snack!" he declared. Immidiatly he stomped up to Toadstool, who looked at him terrified. "You all LOOK delicious. But how do you TASTE?" Without waiting for an answer, in an instant he had swallowed Toadstool.

"TOADSTOOL!" Mario yelled in horror. Moments later, to everyones intense relief, Belome spit out a crying Toadstool.

"Tastes peachy..." Was all he commented before Toadstool yelled angrily and smacked him with her parasol.

"You big jerk!" Toadstool screamed at him, to no real effect. Belome just walked up to Geno and swallowed him this time.

"Bitter, but not bad...," he muttered as he spit Geno back out.

"You can't just go around eating people!" he told him as he repeatingly fired his hands at Belome. Belome paid no attention to him and went up to Bowser and attempted to swallow him, but no sooner did he wrap his tongue around him did he let go, spitting like mad.

"Yuck! That was disgusting!" he declared. Bowser grew angry and threw Mario at him.

"Who are you calling disgusting, you freak? You wouldn't know a four-star dinner if it hit you in the face!" he yelled. Belomes answer to this was to swallow Mario, though he was spit out quickly too.

"Bleech, sour!" he yelled, disgusted, causing Bowser to laugh. Mario glared at him before kicking his new Troopa Shell into Belome.

"Eat this!" he told him. Belome, however, just began to walk over to Mallow. Mallow, who saw him approaching, gulped and backed away from him.

"You look so very... fimilliar. And scrumptious too," he said. Mallow gulped and attempted to smile.

"W-who, me? I taste wrose then anything you ever tasted before," he said weakly.

"I'll let my tongue be the judge of that!" Belome replied. Moments later, Mallow found himself in the last place he could ever want to be: back inside Belome's mouth.

"Ooooh, yes! This is it! This is the taste I've been looking for!" Mallow heard him say happily. He expected to be spit out too, like Toadstool was, only nothing happened.

"What are you doing?" he heard Geno say from somewhere outside Belome.

"Why, I'm going to eat, of course. I've been waiting for that taste to come back to me after all," was all Belome replied. Mallow began to cry.

"No! Please! Don't eat me!" he sobbed. His words had no effect on Belome, who had now began to suck Mallow like he was a lollypop.

"Belome, let him go!" he heard Mario yell at him.

"Why? This is my meal, get your own!" Mallow heard him say before he sensed Belome moving around.

"Belome, p-please, I just want to find my family! I'm not food!" Mallow begged. He felt Belome pause for a moment at his words.

"But you look delicious, smell delicious, taste delicious, so you MUST be food. And be quiet, you're giving me indigestion." Mallow felt quite helpless at his words. _But I'm not helpless!_ He reminded himself. _I may not know WHAT I am... But I know what I can DO!_

"You want indigestion?" He said as he charged his power. "Hungry... Need food!" flowed into his mind as he charged. Moments later he released his newly named attack down upon Belome: Shocker, the giant thunderbolt.

Although Mallow too felt the pain of it, he gritted his teeth and took it, for he knew it wasn't as bad as Belome was feeling it.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he was finally spit out onto the Temple floor. Belome for a minute glared at him like he was really going to let him have it, before he moaned.

"Oh no... Not again! I'm... Starving! I'm going to head home now. Goodbye, boys and girls!" he told them. With a mighty "POOF" he had vanished again, like in Kero Sewers.

"Mallow, are you allright?" Geno asked him as he helped him up. Mallow nodded.

"Yeah, I'm surprised I'm still here... Though I don't really like being covered in Belome spit." Mario smiled.

"You're definitly alright if you can say that, not that I blame you..."

"Tell me about it. Between getting licked by that goon and getting sand in my shell, I think I'll take the sand in my shell," Bowser said as he tried to wipe some of it off onto the Temple wall.

"Hey, I know how to get rid of this!" Mallow said as he got an idea. Quickly concentrating, he managed to creating his Healing Rain cloud form over everyone and make it rain. Soon the rain had washed away all of the spit and Mallow could tell everyone felt clean now.

"Thank you, Mallow! Although I don't like getting wet I feel much better now!" Toadstool told him happily. Mallow couldn't help but blush.

"It's all I can do, really. But come on, that mouse said Monstro Town is just beyond this Temple!" he reminded them. At his words, everyone began to walk through the last leg of the Temple.

A short time later, they found themselves outside, blinking against the sunlight as they left the backdoor of the Temple and found themselves facing a seris of doors set along one of the cliffs above the sea, with a decorated sign nearby declaring "Welcome to Monstro Town!" in big letters surrounded by pictures of Goomba's, Koopa's and other creatures.

"THIS is Monstro Town? None to impressive...," Bowser scoffed as he looked around.

"I wouldn't say that. Its quite a feat to build a town on the side on the side of cliffs, even a town this size is a wonder in itself," Geno argued. Bowser simply humphed amd scowled as he looked away.

"How about we ask the people inside here if they've seen a Star Piece?" Mario asked as he pointed to the nearest door to prevent an all out fight in the party. Geno nodded.

"Indeed, lets hope they know where it is," he said as he knocked on the door.

"Come in please, don't be shy," an elderly womans voice answered. Opening they door they walked inside and saw an old Toad woman sitting at a table, drinking some tea.

"My you've all have traveled far, I can tell. You may call me the Monstermama, I'm the land lady here. Now tell, why have you came here?" she asked them.

"We're looking for a star, we were told there was one here," Mario told her.

"A star? Oh, you must mean OUR star! She's right upstairs, go take a look, go on," The Monstermama told them happily. Confused, the party walked upstairs and looked around, only to see no sign of a Star Piece, though they did see the mouse again.

"Glad to see you made it! I'm afraid our temple guardian can be a bit rude sometimes, but he protects us from the bandits, which seem to be absent from Land's End at this time...,"

"Listen, do you know where a star is? We were told one was up here," Toadstool asked him. The mouse nodded and pointed to a corner.

"She's right over there," was all he said. But the only thing in the corner was a Starslap, who, on cue, began to sing.

"Do, re, fa, mi, so, la ti, fa mi, re, dooooo!" she sang through a simple scale. Toadstool, Mario, Geno, and Mallow clapped, but Bowser didn't even make an attempt to be nice, he turned and stormed down the stairs.

"Bowser, whats wrong?" Mallow called after him as he followed him.

"Because we came through that desert and suffered through Belome's taste test for NOTHING, _thats_ why!" he angrily yelled at Mallow as they decesended the stairs.

"Is something wrong, did you not like our performer?" Monstermama inquired as they re entered the room.

"I fear we've had a misunderstanding when we asked about a star," Mario told her, representing the group. "We're looking for a Star Piece. They're big, brightly coloured, and are in the shape of a star, you seen any?"

"Star Piece? Nothing like that around here, I'm afraid," she told them.

Instantly Mallow's face fell to gloom. _No Star Piece, the feeling from Land's End is gone, and my family isn't here, I bet. Bowser was right, coming here WAS a waste of time._ As he looked to his other companions, he saw they looked glum now too.

"If you've come all the way out here for this Star Piece, they must be very important," Monstermama began to speak again. "And this is the farthest you can go in Mushroom Kingdom if you've looked everywhere else. But there is one last place to look... You can go UP, to what is known as the First Cloud Kingdom! It's been there for centuries, and they know all that goes on in Land's End, they RULE here. Do you want to go there?" Immidiatly after she said "up", Mallow's heart began to pound again, but he couldn't say why: again he felt the urge he had felt all his life to be up high among the clouds.

"Yeah, we do!" Mario said eagerly. Monstermama smiled.

"I thought so, I could tell when I first mentioned it. Here's where you go: the passage to the sky is at Bean Valley, above the cliff! Our mouse resident tells me the rope ladder there is out, so I'll get you some help." Monstermama stood up and opened the door. Once opened she cleared he throat and called out as loud as she could.

"Sgt. Flutter, I need you!" she yelled to the empty cliffs. Several moments later three Koopa Paratroopa's flew in from the open door, the middle one decked out in a scarf and flight goggles.

"What was our flying time, troops?" the middle one asked.

"8.25 seconds, Sgt. Flutter!" the one on the right replied. After he had spoken the middle one, Sgt. Flutter, saluted to Monstermama.

"Sky Koopa's reporting for duty MA'AM! We are .25 seconds later, and I hold myself personally responsible for the delay!"

"Relax, I have a little favour to ask of you and your troops."

"Anything to help a civillian!" he replied.

"Well, I need you to help these guys," she gestured to Mario and the others, "-get up to Bean Valley, the rope ladder is out. Can you do it?"

"Understood! We help Mr. Mustache, the lady, Koopa, doll, and cloud-child up the cliffs! We shall suceed!" Moments later they had flown out of the door and away.

"They're odd, but trustworthy," Monstermama explained, noticing the stunned look on their faces. "They'll meet you at the cliffs, I wish you luck! If you need any items, the shop three doors down can help you."

"Thank you very much Monstermama! Goodbye!" Mario said as they turned and left.

"Hold on," Mallow said at the door. "Can I ask her a question first? It won't take more then a minute."

"Of course, you can meet up with us at the shop," Geno told him. Mallow nodded.

"Thanks!" he said as he turned back inside and went up to Monstermama.

"Yes dear, what is it?" she asked him with a smile.

"I was wondering something... Is there anyone here like me? My kind, I mean," Mallow said, suddenly shy. Monstermama shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. Your kind don't have anyone living in Monstro Town, sorry,"

"Oh, well, thanks anyways," he said, trying and failing to hide his disapointment. Without further talking he turned and walked out the door, not realising Monstermama had said "nobody like you" but "your kind". He had failed to notice she knew his species in his disapointment!

_I've searched practically everywhere now. The only one who knows what I am are Magellean and Geno and they're not talking. Maybe I'm a mutated freak and nobody else looks like me..._ He thought sadly to himself as he sat on the ground. A minute later a door opened and the rest of the group came out with a freshly equiped Bowser.

"Maybe this joint ain't half bad after all!" Bowser said as he swung his new chain and studded ball around over his head. Mallow got up and joined them as they re entered the temple.

"Something wrong?" Toadstool asked Mallow as they began to go through the temple once again. Mallow shook his head.

"No, nothings wrong," he lied.

Soon...

"Ten-HUT! All troops in position!" Sgt. Flutter yelled as the group emerged from the sand whirl in the desert, near the cliffs. Behind him a group of six Koopa Paratroopa's lined up in a ready position. "You know what to do, so get to it!" he called.

Immidiatly the Paratroopa's flew foreward and each one grabbed a hold of a different member of the group (Bowser was too big for one Paratroopa alone, he needed two) and flew them up the cliff. Sgt. Flutter flew ahead of them and met them at the top.

"I should warn you that something's up in the sky and Bean Valley. There are a lot of nasty Smilax's in the pipes. I think the bandits are up to something," he cautioned them.

"Bandits? I heard about them in Monstro Town, who are they?" Mario asked.

"They're bird bandits, and Shy Away's too. They're a nasty clan, been wrecking havoc here ever since the Second Cloud Kingdom formed, they don't like the cloud people for that reason. So we have reason to belive they're stopping people from going up there, I'd watch my back if I was you," he explained to them.

"We'll be fine, and thanks for the lift!" Toadstool reassured him. Sgt. Fluttered saluted.

"It was my pleasure Ma'am! Fall back TROOPS!" He yelled. At his command they all flew away.

"Well, they certainly are a strange bunch, no doubt," Geno said as he watched them flew away.

"Well, lets go! I have a feeling this 'cloud kingdom' that everyone keep talking about will have better luck then Monstro Town!" Mario said. At his word they all walked into the exotic jungle that lay ahead of them.

"So Mallow, what do you know about this 'First Cloud Kingdom' they kept mentioning?" Toadstool asked him after about two minutes of walking through the overgrowth that was Bean Valley.

"Well, to be honest, nothing. We've heard Sky Land being reffered to as the Second Cloud Kingdom before, my Grandpa and myself, I mean. But we never heard anything about the First, not even in legend. So its impossible for me to say anything," he told them. One thing he didn't mention was he had the funny feeling again, which had vanished when they went underground. It didn't seem to make any sense. And he still wanted to be higher then this.

"Heads up!" Geno suddenly yelled and ducked as a large wasp flew at them, stinger first. Bowser jumped to action, however, and swung his new studded ball, knocking the wasp far away from them.

"He won't be bothering us again. I'm great I know, I know," he said, his head once again inflated. _That wasp needs to come back and shrink that head of his before I go nuts! How can Toadstool stand to be kidnapped by that guy?_ Mallow wondered in disbelief as they continued on.

Soon afterwards they ecountered many Warp Pipes, each one containing a Smilax, a nasty close realitive of the Piranha Plant. But Mario's newly stronger Fire Orb upgrade, Super Flame, dispatched them quickly enough. Soon there was only one left. But that one had just barely been defeated when-

"La dee dah~! Its shower time~!" a Shy Away, a flying realitive of the Shy Guy, sang as he watered that Smilax. Immidiatly the Smilax grew back, this time with two heads. "There there, my pretties! Hi ho, dee dum~!" he sang happily to the newly regenerated plant as they both hissed at the group.

"Allow me!" Geno said as he charged up and sent a powerful blast at the Smilax. Both heads were distroyed without further incident. But the Shy Away wasn't about to be outdown.

"Doo dee doo~! It's recycled water!" Shy Away sang to them as he watered the plant. This time a third head grew to join the first two! "There there, my pretties! Hi ho, dum dee dum~!" he crooned to the newly regrown heads.

"Allow me!" Bowser called as he threw his spiked ball at one plant, and slashed the other two clean off with his claws. "Piece of cake!" he smirked as he picked up his weapon. But Shy Away was not finished yet.

"Dum dee doo~! I added lots of nutrients!" he sang

happily as he watered the plant, the first two heads springing back. But when they third one regrew back, he continued to water it until it had grown into a GIANT Mega-sized Smilax! "There we go~! We won't be beaten this time~!" Shy Away sang happily.

"Okaaaay, maybe we have a problem," Bowser said as they looked up at the massive plant. Mega Smilax roared and all three Smilax heads began to spit fireballs, Mega Smilax spitting fireballs bigger then Bowser!

"Don't let them hit you!" Mario yelled as they dodged the fireballs, though they constantly got hit, despite giving it their best shot. Toadstool had her work cut out for her as she continuosly healed them as she too dodged the fireballs.

Mallow was the first to come to his senses to attack from afar. Quickly he charged his energy. "Snack time!" flowed into his head as he did so, knowing that it had come from Mega Smilax. _We'll just see about that!_ Moments later he realeased his Shocker onto the plants, frying the first two, though Mega Smilax appeared to be merely stunned before hissing and lunging his head foreward, snapping like mad. Mallow managed to avoid it by dodging just in time.

"Have a taste of your own medicine!" Mario yelled to Mega Smilax as he released a super-sized Super Flame. But it had no effect either and caused Mega Smilax to go after Mario instead.

"Eat THIS!" Bowser yelled as he threw his spiked ball at Mega Smilax. In turn, Mega Smilax retaliated by shooting some of its _own_ spikes at Bowser, hissing madly.

"Mallow!" Geno called to Mallow suddenly. "Plants have plenty of water in them, Mega Smilax won't be an exception. Use another Shocker upon him, he can't have the energy withen him to take on another, despite all appearences!"

"I'll do my best!" he called back as he once again charged his energy. "I'll get him for that!" flowed into his mind. _Well you won't get the chance!_ He told himself. A few seconds later and the massive lightning bolt fell from the sky. Mega Smilax screeched and hissed, before slowly shrinking and vanishing, until only the crumpled body of the plant lay in the Warp Pipe.

"La...dee...huh? Oh no! Out of water!" Shy Away said in dismay as he tried to regenerate Smilax through his magic water, but failed. "Smilax has been whacked! Ooooh, I'm going to get it! Queen Valentina told me to keep everybody out of Nimbus Land. Oh, what am I going to do?" Shy Away muttered in panic as he fluttered to and fro. "I know! I'll run away!" Quickly, Shy Away turned and flew off before anyone could do anything.

"Nimbus Land? What's a Nimbus Land? And who's Queen Valentina?" Toadstool asked confused. Mario shrugged.

"You got me, but look! He dropped something!" Mario pointed to a slip of paper on the ground. Geno walked over and picked it up.

"'One Fast-Growing Magic Beanstalk. Perfect for climbing up to the sky and other various uses. No watering required,'" Geno read aloud. "Someone sribbled something on the back. 'Use this to grow back the vine if I ever decide to re-open the land.' Very strange. So where do we plant this?"

"There's a spot over here that looks like something used to grow," Mallow pointed to a hole in the ground where something used to be. Quickly they dumped out the seed and put it in the ground and covered it with dirt. Less then a minute later a giant beanstalk sprouted and reached up to the sky.

"The paper wasn't lying when they said fast-growing," Mario said in awe as they looked up at the giant beanstalk.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Toadstool said a minute later. "Let's go up that beanstalk!"

Mario stepped foreward and began to climb first, followed by Bowser, Mallow, Geno, and lastly, Toadstool.

Mallow didn't say anything to the others, but when the Shy Away said "Nimbus Land" and "Queen Valentina" his heart skipped a beat. He KNEW those names, but he couldn't say why. His heart was also pounding faster and faster the higher they went, jumping from vine to vine.

As they climbed, several times they were attacked by red birds carrying spears, but Geno managed to shoot them down by letting go of the vine with one hand and firing that hand at them while holding on by the other.

Soon, however, they found themselves at the end of the vine and climbed out onto a _cloud_.

"Where the heck are we?" Bowser said as he looked around. Mario shrugged.

"I have no idea, but there's a springboard over there," Mario pointed. Without hesitation they lept onto it one by one, onto what appeared to be the main area, er, cloud.

Mallow looked around. If he thought his heart was pounding in Land's End, Bean Valley and on the vines, it was nothing to what it was doing now. _This cloud, the houses, that palace right there... I KNOW this place!_ He thought as he and the others looked around the village. There were people there too, wearing robes over very exotic pants and shirts, gathered around in one central area around the palace. _Holy tadpole! A curl of hair, large hands, smilliar build as myself... These people look exactly like me! They're the same kind as me! This is my home!_

Further thoughts were interrupted as the palace doors opened and the two guards in front made room. A woman stepped out, wearing not puffy-like clothes like the other people, but a dress that seemed to "hug" her body closely, and a parrot on her head with no curl visible, instead of the veils and hats the other people wore.

"All right everybody, listen up!" she called to the crowd. They were all busy talking so no one heard her.

"SHUDDAP!" she yelled. Everyone fell silent and looked at her. _I know her_, Mallow thought as he looked at her. For a split second he felt like hugging her and the name "Falemtina" flashed into his head, but he couldn't say why.

"King Nimbus' condition is growing wrose, as is Queen Nimbus'...," the woman sad sadly to the crowd. "This means we will be losing...our magnificant rulers."

At her words a murmur went through the crowd and sadness fell upon everyones face.

"But!" she continued on. "It just so happens I have found the missing Prince of Nimbus Land! Prince Mallow that is!"

This time a happy murmur fell through the crowd as everyone began to whisper excitingly. The woman stepped aside and called into the open doors of the palace.

"Prince Mallow...Sir...Prince?" A pause, but nothing happened. "GET OVER HERE!" she yelled angrily, shocking the crowd into silence. Still, nothing happened.

"Well, it seems our young prince has a bit of a case of stage fright. Please excuse me for a moment, hehehe," the woman said with a nervous chuckle before stepping inside the palace. Much angry whispering was heard until at last the woman came out, pushing an enourmous black bird with her, with white and red tips on the wings.

"Introducing Prince Mallow!" She said happily, gesturing to the large bird behind her. _I...I don't belive it! Here I come to the place I'm almost positive I come from and theres a prince with the same name as ME! Talk about your coiencidences!_

A shocked silence fell over the crowd, apparently they were too stunned to speak. But finally one of them called out to the bird.

"Welcome back, Prince Mallow!"

Following his example, other people stepped foreward too and called out to Prince Mallow and the woman.

"It's great to see you back again, Prince Mallow!"

"You've seem to, ah, filled out a bit, Prince Mallow!"

"You look...great, Prince Mallow!"

As soon as all the calling had died down, the bird walked up to the woman who brought him out, the one with the parrot on her head, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes...? What is it?" she asked him. In reply the bird leaned foreward and whispeared something into her ear. As everyone watched, the woman became shocked.

"WHAT? You're asking ME to...? Goodness gracious, I don't know what to think... You're serious, aren't you?" she asked Prince Mallow, who nodded happily.

"I've made my decision!" the woman called to the crowd. "At the request of the Prince, I agree to become his queen. Queen Valentina...Ooh! It just makes me SHIVER!" she muttered aloud before apparently composing herself.

"Well, that's that! So just...go back to your business!" she told everyone before muttering something to the Prince and pushing him inside and slamming the palace doors shut. Almost instantly the guards moved to their position in front of the doors.

"Well THAT was weird. I should be used to it after that whole business with Booster and that Yaridovich...thing, but I'm not. This keeps up and I'm going to need therapy after all this is done and ended," Bowser simply said. Mallow had something else on his mind, however.

"Can you guys believe it though? What a wild coincidence! There's a prince with the same name as ME!"

"Don't you think its a bit, ah, more then a coincidence?" Mario asked him. Mallow shook his head.

"No. I mean, just because these people LOOK like me doesn't mean I'm one of them. Besides I know I am NOT a prince, trust me," Mallow said with a laugh.

"I suppose you got a point... Though I thought the prince would've looked more like all the other people, but what do I know? I've never been here before," Toadstool replied.

"I say we should ask everyone if they've seen a Star Piece. I'm sure SOMEONE has seen one," Geno pointed out. Mario nodded in agreement and they began to ask all the villagers about one.

Only, they all said never saw one. Though they did have a lot to say about the current situation.

"Who does Valentina think she is fooling? The King and Queen aren't birds, so why would Mallow be one too?" said one.

"Valentina came up to me and several others the other day and screamed at us we were fired... Said it was our fault the King and Queen fell ill. What are we supposed to do, put them in plastic bubbles?"

"Some of the old guards are being locked up in the palace the day the King and Queen fell ill because Valentina said they were uprising against the royal family, but I don't believe it!"

"Prince Mallow used to be so small, a timid little guy... Since when did he turn into a giant bird? Sounds like Valentina's trying to pull our legs to me...,"

"Its official, coming here was a waste of time. No one has ever heard of the Star Piece's, let alone seen one," Mario said with a sigh as they sat outside muching on some Mushrooms for a quick lunch. Mallow didn't blame him for acting so glum: he had allowed himself to get his hopes up that one of the people walking about was a parents of his, but aside from the odd looks he got, none seemed to recognise him.

"Hey, by the sound of things, these people have problems of their own. Something sounds fishy about this whole ordeal with the King and Queen, maybe we should investigate," Geno pointing out, but Bowser angrily punched the cloud.

"No way! We're in a hurry, aren't we? It ain't our business to stick our noses in with this Valentina person!"

"We haven't asked the person there about a Star Piece," Toadstool couldn't help but point out as she gestured to a tiny little shop called Garro's Trinkets. Mario looked thoughtful.

"I guess there isn't any harm in asking, lets go see," he said as he got up and dusted himself off.

The shop was cozy, nice little place, filled with all kinds of homemade clothes and various items. It was also filled with statues of sorts, beautifully made. A single man, Garro himself, was in the shop, putting the finishing touches of gold paint on a statue of the woman from earlier. Mario walked up to him and tapped his arm.

"Excuse me, sir, tell me, have you seen any large stars fall from the sky near here recently?"

"No, I'm afraid not... The King and Queen fell ill and presumably gave me all these orders for statues of Valentina, the Prime Minister, or else. I'm been working myself half to death making them as fast as I can or my business will be ruined!"

"Gosh, I'm sorry. But, can you, ah, tell me what exactly everyone...is? I've never been here before," Mario explained. Garro nodded.

"Its quite alright, I understand. Well, this is the tiny, but cozy, kingdom of Nimbus Land, and we are the Nimbians!"

While Mario was talking to Garro, Mallow was listening half interisted as he looked at some of the items around. And then quite suddenly, he saw it: a statue of himself, without a doubt. He walked up to it, fascinated: not only was it life size, it was his exact height and everything!

"Hey, look! It's ME!" he said as he smiled into the statue: he could dimly see his reflection smile back from the statue's glossy shine.

"You mean that old thing?" Garro asked as he turned and walked over. "That's King Cumulous Nimbus when he was-" as he was talking, Mallow turned and looked at Garro, so that both Mallow and statue were facing him. "A young... lad." Garro looked at the statue, Mallow, and back again: it was indeed a perfect match. "What in the-? Who ARE you?"

"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Mallow, and these are my friends, Mario, Geno, Bowser, and Princess Toadstool. You have a very nice shop," Mallow told Garro politely. But Garro appeared to not be listening ever since he had said his name was Mallow.

"Mallow..." Garro's face turned from shocked into a warm, bright smile almost instantly. "So! It's YOU, at long last! Welcome back, you've become such a splendid young prince!"

Mallow instantly lept back, banging against the wall, his mouth open, his eyes wide: he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"WHAT? You muh-must be mistaken! I'm not a prince, I'm not even a frog! I CAN'T be a prince, it's just not possible!"

"A frog? What do you mean?"

"You see, it goes like this...," Mario explained how Frogfucius came to find Mallow, and why he was traveling with them in the first place. But Mallow wasn't listening.

_A...a prince? ME? But I don't know anything about being a prince, how could I ever be one? And wouldn't that make my parents the king and queen? But they didn't sound regal or anything when I heard their wish! They sounded normal...didn't they?_

"I see, you were raised by Frogfucius!" Garro broke into his thoughts, bringing him back down to earth. "Let me explain something: about twelve years ago our country was blessed with a heir to a throne, a prince. King and Queen Nimbus couldn't have been more proud of their little son, whom they named Mallow. Now about ten years ago our country was ravished by terrible bandits, the royal family, Mallow included, and Valentina the Prime Minister hid in a secret room in the palace, but hours later the Bandits had nearly discovered that place, and they feared for Mallow and Valentina's safety. So they gave her Mallow and told her to run for it, but it all went wrong.

"Valentina said she was cornered by the bandits and they knocked her out and took young Mallow. This news alone devistated his poor parents. In a fit of panic they ordered nearly everyone to search Land's End for him, but no trace could be found, alive or dead. King and Queen Nimbus were heartbroken...

"But over the past ten years there have been strange weather phenominons that had its original somewhere in Central Mushroom Kingdom. A young Nimbian cannot control its power, the power to create and control the weather! There were no young enough Nimbians that couldn't control their power, and none had ever lived in Central Mushroom Kingdom. And Mallow was too little to learn how to crontrol his powers. So the evidence has pointed to one possibility: Mallow was alive in Central Mushroom Kingdom!

"Mario has told me you were raised by Frogfucius in Tadpole Pond, which is in South-Central Mushroom Kingdom, is it not? Mario also told me you can control the weather to an extent, that when you cry it rains, you can call lightning down from the sky in battle, and probably many more things you have yet to discover.

"Also, everyone here knows each other in this small kingdom. You talked to the villagers, did you not?"

"Yeah, we did...," Mallow told him. "They all looked at me kind of funny, but I can't say why."

"Ah! I see. That means they recognised you too. See, you look a great deal like King Nimbus when he was your age, and everyone here knows everyone. So if they see a strange Nimbian they had never seen before, yet recognise him anyways, they would look at you strangely, no doubt.

"It is all this that points to one conclusion I have no reason to doubt: you ARE without a doubt, Prince Mallow Nimbus, son of King Cumulous and Queen Skyheart Nimbus and the only heir to the throne!"

Mallow stood there, his head swirling. If what Garro was saying was true, it explained why he recognised Land's End and Bean Valley, but not Monstro Town. Why he knew of Miramio Town and felt a strange feeling, but why Monstro Town had no effect. And most important of all: why he always felt a strong longing to be in the sky. It was a longing for home. Thats why he felt himself beliving Garro.

"I'm a prince... I'M A PRINCE!" He jumped up and down, laughing in delight, feeling eager to see his parents again at long last. Although Bowser rolled his eyes at him, Mario, Toadstool, and Geno watched him with geniuine happiness.

"So that means Valentina is up to sometime after all!" Garro said thoughtfully. "I had a feeling she was, I just didn't know what... Which means that Cumulous and Skyheart AREN'T gravely ill, and that the rumour was she found Prince Mallow was false... Who knows what she is planning to do with their Majesties!"

"Then we got to go inside the palace and rescue my mom and dad!" Mallow said, feeling anger towards Valentina now.

He charged out of the little shop, ignoring the cries from Garro and the stares of all the villagers, and ran to the front doors of the castle. But he never made it: the guards grabbed his arms and held him back from running inside.

"Let me in this instant! Do you know who I am?" he yelled at the guards.

"I don't don't care WHO you think you are, you can be Prince Mallow for all I care, you're NOT allowed inside!" the guard on the left yelled as he swung his spear right onto Mallow's head! Mallow almost fell unconcious and immidiatly ceased to struggle: the guards pushed him away from the doors and glared at him, as if daring him to try that again.

Mallow felt defeated as he slowly turned and walked away, gingerly massaging the large bump on his head as he walked back to Garro's shop.

"I tried to warn you, the guards don't let anybody in except..." Garro trailed off, lost in thought.

"Anybody home? You said those stupid birds don't let anyone in except for SOMEONE," Bowser said, clearly annoyed at him.

"...Guys, I have an excellent idea!" Garro told them as he snapped back to reality. "The only other person alowed in the palace save Valentina is ME to deliver statues! The guards take their break in fifteen minutes or so, the doors are left unguarded for a minute or two then! So if I smuggle in one of you disguised as a statue, that person will have the oppertunity to knock out the guards when they come in for break, and the rest of you can dart into the castle!"

"Thats an excellent idea indeed, Garro!" Geno agreed with a smile and nod. "We just have to decide WHO it is who goes in..."

"Don't look at me, I ain't going to be no statue!" Bowser said firmly.

"If I was Valentina and I recieved a statue of a woman that was also very pretty I'd feel insulted and furious, its best I don't go," Toadstool said wisely and truthfully.

"I think she'd be suspicious if she saw me, she'd probably recognise me too. And if she did capture my mom and dad, she probably wouldn't want a statue of someone looking like my dad, would she?" Mallow said thoughtfully. Garro shook his head.

"I suppose she wouldn't, it might make her all the more suspicious. So that leaves you two," Garro replied as he gestured to Mario and Geno. Geno nodded to Mario.

"I think you should go, you're pretty good at this 'breaking into castles' thing. Why should Valentina be suspicious of a statue of a famous super hero from Mushroom Kingdom?"

"I guess you have got a point," Mario said thoughtfully. He smiled and nodded. "Allright then! I'll do it!"

"Okay! Stand perfectly still and don't move at all!" Garro instructed him as he grabbed a paintbrush and some gold, glossy statue paint. Dipping his brush into the paint, he worked for about seven minutes until, at last, he now had a "statue" of Mario.

"There!" he said proudly. "Now lets load up the cart and I'll take you to the palace," Garro told them as he began to load up a pulling cart full of Valentina statues. Quickly Mallow and the others helped him, putting Mario in last, who couldn't help but smiled and wink at them.

"Just wait right here, I'll be back in a few minutes!" Garro told them as he pulled the cart out. A few moments after he left, Mallow began to search the shop.

"What the heck are you looking for?" Bowser asked finally after several minutes. Mallow blushed and smiled sheepishly.

"I was hoping there'd be a statue of my mom and dad around... So I can see what they look like," he explained.

"I think I saw some statues in that room back there," Toadstool pointed to a supply room, its door open slightly ajar. Mallow eagerly walked up to the door and peeked inside when-

"Good news, I got Mario inside just fine!" Garro said happily as he came in, pulling the now empty cart. "I was afraid we almost wouldn't suceed when Valentina said it was an ugly statue-" Bowser couldn't help himself and laughed himself to tears at his words. "-but I convinced her otherwise."

"What do we do now?" Toadstool called over Bowser's laughing.

"Well, you go outside, and hide around the corner, until the guards go inside. Wait thirty seconds at most before running in," he told them. Turning, they began to leave, but Garro stopped them.

"Here, take these," he said as he handed Toadstool a fan, and Geno an upgrade to the Finger Shot: the hand cannon. "The bandits are powerful, so who knows who they have on their side now. But these will help you, use them well."

"I don't think we can take them without paying," Geno said, shaking his head.

"No, I will be glad to help, I refuse to be paid. Go! Valentina needs to be stopped, you are the perfect ones for the job!"

They had barely stepped outside and looked around the corner when they saw the guards already heading inside.

"Now?" Bowser asked, eager for action. Mallow, however, shook his head.

"Wait a few seconds, or we might blow it! This is our only chance, be patient!"

"Talk to me like that again and you'll get it!" he growled angrily. Further arguments were halted however when Geno tugged on their arms sharply.

"We've given them enough time, lets go! We may blow it if we wait too long!"

Quickly they dashed into the palace, finding themselfs in a main entry filled with nothing but statues of Valentina everywhere and empty birdcages.

"Someone is a bit full of themselves," Toadstool muttered as she looked around at all of the statues. "But where are the guards?"

"Lets try this hallway!" Mallow said as he pointed down one of the hallways branching from the main room.

Quickly they hurried down that hallway, which was the same as the front room: empty bird cages and Valentina statues. This time however were were some doors lining the hallway. But a quick peek in each one showed it was a broom closet, or an office of sorts.

After five minutes, who did they encounter at a small junction but a now paintless Mario and the guards, who were knocked out.

"Mario, what happened?" Toadstool called as they ran up to Mario. Mario turned and looked at them.

"Well, Dodo posed a bit of a problem, so I was delayed getting away from him. And then when I came out here the guards came and I had to play statue... but they poked the paint off of me,"

"So much for the disguise," Geno muttered as he looked lost in thought. "But where do we go now?"

"Ask_ him_," Bowser said as he pointed at Mallow. "It's _his_ stupid palace, he should know the way."

"I do not! I've never been here before! I couldn't find a broom closet even if I tried!" Mallow defended angrily.

"YOU'RE the prince, therefore it's your palace! Now, where do we go?" Bowser growled back angrily.

"ENOUGH!" Geno yelled angrily, standing between them. "Both of you, lay off! We're here on a rescue mission, there is NO reason to bite eachothers heads off! Bowser, he doesn't know the way, he was only a year old at most when he was sundered, so leave him alone! Mallow, stop whining and being so argumentitive! Right now you are NOT acting the way a real prince should act!"

Geno turned and angrily headed down the hall to the right. Mario and Toadstool looked at eachother nervously before following him.

"Who does he think he is, talking to the leader that way?" Bowser growled angrily as he stomped off behind them. Mallow was last, shuffling his feet along, head bowed over sadly.

_Geno is right... I'm just a whiny brat. I'm no prince, what was I thinking? I can't even take care of myself against Belome. I'm just going to be one big dissapointment to Mom and Dad,_ he thought sadly to himself, remembering how hopeful their wish sounded on Star Hill.

_Maybe I should just stay here after we save them. I seem to bring nothing but misery and trouble to the party. And if they don't have the Star Piece, not only will coming here have been a waste of time, we might lose it to Smithy, and it'll be all my fault...and mine alone._

Further self bashing ended as they turned onto a new hallway full of guards that instantly charged at them, shouting "HALT!"

"Take THIS" Mario yelled as he fired fireballs at the guards, hitting most. Bowser, not letting Mario take all the glory, knocked the rest out with his spikedball.

"Hah! Buncha losers think they can take on ME, king of the Koopa's? Dream on!" he sneered at the fallen guards.

"Looks like a sort of crossroads...," Toadstool noted as she looked up and down the hallway. There was another door at the opposite end in the same direction they came from: evidently it was another hallway that led off from the main hall that they didn't use. On the opposite wall there were three doors.

"They can't all go foreward... But which one is the right one?" Mario muttered to himself as they exaimined each door.

Only one door was locked, the middle one. But the far left and far right doors were unlocked, fortunitly.

"I think we should try the right door first. If thats not it, we try the left," Geno finally said after minutes of silence. Mario nodded.

"Its a start!" he agreed as they entered the door.

On the other side was a good-sized room, with a fountain covered with a sheet and a note taped to it that said "Do not remove! I am going to replace it, and until then, no one can look at this ugly thing! Signed, Queen Valentina", and many exotic plants. But there was no other door, it was just a room, nothing more.

"Drat... That was a failure," Toadstool said glumly as they left the room and walked down the hall to the other door.

This one appeared to be a sucess: they had found a short hall and stairwell that led deep beneath the palace. Eagerly, they went down and found themselves in a sort of underground passage.

"I wonder what this is used for...," Mario wondered aloud as they walked along. Bowser replied.

"Looks like a dungeon to me. I wonder if we can release any convicts..." he said happily. The others smacked him.

"Don't talk like that!" Toadstool scolded him angrily.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TALKING TO THE LEADER LIKE THAT?" Bowser yelled loud enough for the whole palace to hear.

"Halt!" several nearby bird-guards yelled, spears ready, alerted by the yell. This time Mallow lept foreward to battle them.

Charging up, "Intruders! Get them!" flowed into his head for a few seconds before he used his Thunderbolt. Moments later they were laying on the ground... well done extra-crispy.

"Well that was easy," Mallow muttered as he looked at the slightly smoking guards on the floor. "But why are there guards down here?" he wondered aloud.

"Hello? Who's there?" a voice called out making everyone jump. Geno, however, stepped foreward.

"Who's down here?" he called to the seemingly empty dungeon. This time there was a whole murmur of voices before the same one as before called out.

"You're not with Valentina are you? Please, let us out!" he begged.

"They must be the guards the villagers mentioned got locked up," Toadstool said as she looked around. "But where are they?"

The team walked foreward a little ways past several holding cells, until suddenly they found a cell holding a bunch of Nimbians, all wearing a simmilar uniform.

"Who are you? And how did you make it in past Valentina's guards?" a male Nimbian asked, the one who called out to them before. Mario stepped foreward as the spokes person.

"I am Super Mario of Mushroom Kingdom. My companions and I are on a quest to find the Star Peices, but when we heard of your fair kingdom in trouble we stopped to help.

"This is Princess Toadstool of Mushroom Kingdom," Mario gestured to Toadstool who curtseyed as he spoke.

"This is Geno of Star Haven, who is here to repair the Star Road that was broken." Geno simply nodded with a slight smile in acknowledgement.

"Thats Bowser Koopa. He's trying to regain his Keep." Bowser smirked and flexed to try and save face.

"And last but not least this is Mallow, who-"

"Mallow? PRINCE Mallow?" one of the Nimbians said with a gasp as they stared at Mallow. Mallow could only blush and stare at the ground.

"We think he really could be. That's why were here, to save his parents."

"Ah, it won't be that easy...," the first Nimbian spoke again. "Valentina took over Nimbus Land not long ago, you see. The King and Queen were locked up somewhere. When we got wind of this we tried to stop Valentina... But her stupid bandit-guards overpowered us and we got locked down here," he said bitterly.

"My name is Jonas. I was the head guard until Valentina fired us all," he added as he introduced himself. "We all worked as guards and palace caretakers until Valentina locked us all up..."

"What a jerk," a female Nimbian ex-worker piped up. "Like she expects us to belive the King and Queen are suddenly mortally ill! Even if that was the case, alls they need is a relaxing bath in our healing hot springs."

"I bet she was responsible for the bandit attack all those years ago that resulted in the loss of little Mallow! Thats probably why she replaced us with those same vile bandits," a male ex-worker added.

Quickly everyone was chattering about how awful Valentina was and their regret that they could not punish her themselves. It went on for several minutes before Mallow yelled for silence: luckily they immidiatly listened.

"Please, we want to help you, but we don't know our way through the castle. How do we get to the throne room?" Mallow asked them. Jonas stepped foreward and began to speak.

"The way to the throne is the through the door in the middle of the hallway, the one that lead to down here. It's that easy," he told them. Mario shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, the door is locked, there's no way in," he explained.

"Well, I guess it isn't so simple then... Valentina seems to be taking no chances."

"Isn't there _any_ way we can get through there?" Toadstool asked, with a note of worry in her voice. Jonas pondered for a moment and began digging in his pockets.

"Hmm... I wonder... they didn't check my pockets before they locked us up... Yes!" he cried triumphantly as he held up a gold key and passed it through the bars to Mallow, who looked at it confused.

"Whats this for?" he asked, puzzeled.

"As the head guard I had a copy of every key in the castle, including a master key. When she fired us, before we rebelled, Valentina made us give her all our keys. But she forgot my master key in my back pocket! Provided she didn't change the locks, it should work on every door in the palace," Jonas explained to them. Mallow, however, looked puzzled.

"But if it opens every lock in the palace, we should let you out first."

"No, not yet. You see how many of us there are, but we could not handle the guards. Yet, there are only five of you, but you infiltrated the palace and got this far by yourselves," a female ex-worker said to them.

"That's right! You can do it!" another ex-worker piped up. Geno stepped foreward and smiled.

"Thank you for your encouragement and for the key. But now we'd better go, before Valentina figures out somethings up. We'll come free you once we've confronted her!"

"Goodbye, and good luck!" the Nimbians called out as they turned and left. Soon the heroes found themselves in the hallway once again.

"At least now we know where to go," Geno said happily as they walked over to the locked door.

Nervously, Mallow took the key and put it into the lock and turned it. Immidiatly, there was a triumphant click and the knob turned: it had worked!

"We did it!" he wispeared excitedly as they opened the door and walked into the new room.

It was a very large room, and lavishly decorated with portraits, statues, and fancy plants. But, like the rest of the palace, the portraits were all of Valentina, and the statues of Valentina in different poses.

"Jeeze, doesn't the hag EVER get tired of herself?" Bowser grumbled as they crossed the room. Toadstool snickered.

"Says the person who has hundreds of statues and paintings of himself in his castle," she said as they walked into the next hallway.

"HEY!" he growled angrily, causing everyone to laugh. But laughter was cut short when on the left side they saw a door, with a sign taped on it.

Curiously they walked over to it and read it. Almost immidiatly Mallow's head began to spin in shock.

It read "King Nimbus is resting in bed with his wife. Absolutly NO DISTURBING him! Signed Queen Valentina"

"Guys! This can only mean one thing! My parents are right through here!" he wispeared excitingly, heart pounding. Eagerly he reached out to open the door, only to see it was locked.

"Its locked... And the key won't work...," he said sadly as he tried to fit the key into the lock.

"Sounds suspicious of Valentina to me... So what do we do?" Toadstool said as she leaned against the wall, thinking. Bowser smirked and laughed.

"You guys let me take care of it! Looks like its up to me to get us out of yet another jam. Just feast your eyes on this show of brain... and brawn!" As he talked he moved in front of the door, getting ready to break it, whilst motioning his hands to make them get out of the way. However, just as he started to charge, Mallow jumped in the way, making him stop suddenly and fall.

"WAIT! Wait a minute! If my dad's really bedridden, we shouldn't make so much noise. And even if they were locked in there, what if she fed them something that made them sick? Or what if they're in front of the door and we hurt them? Perhaps we should stick to the original plan of finding Valentina and confronting her." When he finished speaking, the others nodded in agreement.

"That's a very good plan, and would seem to be our best bet. Lets do that," Geno spoke in agreement.

"So its settled then! We go with the original plan of finding Valentina!" Toadstool agreed.

"But...what about the door?" Bowser said as he stared sadly at the door. Mario put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just let it go, Bowser. Just let it go," Bowser turned around at him and, to save face, growled and started screaming.

"Listen YOU! Never EVER talk to the leader of the Koopa Troop like that! Ooh, I hate...THAT! I'll let it slide THIS time, but don't you EVER let it happen again, YOU HEAR ME?"

"So much for making no noise...," Mallow moaned and slapped his forehead. Geno, however, looked around in worry.

"Shut up! Shut up! Before someone hears you!" he wispeared furiously. Bowser turned towards him, ready to explode, but at that moment there was a diversion.

A diversion in the shape of a Shy Away.

"Queen Valentina... Queen Valentina..." He called out as he flew down the hallway, pausing to look at Mario and the others, who looked like deer caught in the headlights in the middle of the road, before flying onwards down the hall.

"Now do you see what your big mouth has gotten us into? He knows we're here!" Geno scolded Bowser angrily, who snarled in return.

"Perhaps if we hurry, we can follow him to Valentina!" Mallow boldly suggest, to his own surprise. Mario nodded.

"Another good idea! Lets go!"

Quickly they hustled down the hallway. At the end was a large, elaborate door, guarded by two Birds, but good aim from Geno's Hand Cannon dispatched them. Then, quietly, they pushed open the door and stepped inside the throne room.

It was the most beautiful room in the entire palace. There were two statues of Valentina on either side of the door, and a full length portrait of her hung on the far side of the room, behind the throne. Tons of exotic plants filled the room, and at the end of the great room, was Valentina, sitting in the throne, Dodo standing next to her, sipping a margarita as Shy Away flew up to her.

"Queen Valentina...The Mario creature who beat up Smilax is here..."

"Mario?" Valentina looked confused as she sipped her margarita. "Tell me... What does a...'Mario' look like?" she asked him.

"Well...it has a big, bushy mustache, long sideburns, and a pair of, uhm...mean-looking legs!" Shy Away said, doing his best to describe Mario. Valentina looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm... I get the feeling I've seen this 'Mario' before..." She sat there thinking for several moments before it came to her. "Wait...yes! Of course! It was the statue Garro had just delivered! That dirty little traitor...," she growled angrily. Shy Away began to panic and flew around in circles.

"Oh, what what what are we going to do? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO VALENTINA?" Valentina slapped him and he shut up.

"Well, we certainly aren't going to listen to your pointless chatter! Quite frankly, I'm not going to worry. Without this key, the King and Queen can't go anywhere until I kill them!" As she spoke she tossed a golden key up into the air and caught it, cackling wickedly.

Mallow felt horrified as he heard her talk. _Holy tadpole... She's going to kill Mom and Dad! What are we going to do?_

But before Mallow could say anything to them, Dodo had spotted them. In a panic, Dodo began to tug on Valentina's arm, who simply slapped him in response.

"Stop that!" she said as she sipped more of her drink. Urgently, Dodo pulled on her arm, 'causing her to stand up and scream at him.

"I SAID CUT IT OUT, ALREADY!" Dodo would not be defeated however, and gestured at them. Valentina, sighing in exasperation, looked at them, and gasped when she saw him.

"That...that isn't a STATUE! That's MARIO!"

"VALENTINA! Hand over the KEY, NOW!" Mallow angrily yelled, thunder exploding in the background, as he ran foreward. His heroism was cut short when he tripped and fell halfway there. "Ack!" He did pick himself up though as the rest of his friends stood around him, the five of them glaring at Valentina.

"How utterly rude!" Valentina said as she got off the throne and took a few steps towards them. "And who in blazes are YOU, anyway?" she asked, gesturing at Mallow.

"Me? I'm the REAL prince, that's who!" Valentina stepped back in shock and horror, and glared at him a moment later.

"You BRAT! And how DARE you ruffians listen in on our private conversation...!"

"Private? PRIVATE? With that foghorn mouth of yours, EVERYONE in Nimbus Land could hear you!"

"Yeah!" Mario and the others, even Bowser, murmured in agreement as they glared back at Valentina.

"Humppph! Well, if you're going to be THIS rude, I'm simply going to leave! So long! ...Chumps...," Valentina muttered as she left the throne room via the back door, Dodo and Shy Away right behind her.

"Is it just me, or did we miss the boat here?" Mario asked as he looked around the now nearly-empty throne room.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Lets get them!" Mallow cried out, charging through the doors, the others with him. However, they had a nasty shock on the other side.

Now only had they entered ANOTHER maze of hallways and doors, the place was crawling with more elite guards, the Blue Birds.

The Blue Birds took one look at the new comers and flew foreward, spears at the ready, screaming "CHARGE!"

"Take THIS!" Mallow yelled as he lept foreward charging. "Intruders!" flowed into his mind for a split second before he released his Shocker on them, laying waste to them all.

"Come on!" Mario said as he lept over the fallen guards, the others right behind him. Luckily, this section of the palace was less mazy then the first half, and quickly they found themselves at the head of the hall, with a single door at the end. And who did they see go through it moments before but Dodo.

"Hurry!" Geno urged them on as they lept through the door... To thin air! It was the unfinished balcony, and they had just jumped right over it!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" they screamed as they fell through the air, falling, falling, falling...

Luckily, they landed safely onto the cloud hovoring beneath the main one. Groaning, they got up.

"So much for that..." Toadstool said with a sigh as she smoothed out her dress. Mallow, however, shook his head.

"If we saw Dodo go through there, Valentina HAS to be nearby! Hurry!" Running, they headed for the springboard, hoping it wasn't too late...

One by one they lept onto the springboard, bouncing into Nimbus Land. To Mallow's intense relief, Valentina was a few meters away from the entrance of the palace, surronded by curious Nimbians.

"I have better things to do then listen to your half-wit opinions!" She yelled at them, glaring. And LOOK... While I've been standing here listening to your pointless chatter... Mario and his goon friends have managed to find me!" she wailed, all the Nimbians now turning their attention to Mario and the others.

"Surrender yourself now Valentina. You don't want us to fight you...," Mario said in warning as they slowly stepped foreward, weapons at the ready. Although Valentina, despite the fact she knew she was caught like a rat in a trap, she wasn't ready to give up yet.

"Dodo! DODO! Ooooh, that bird has a permanent brain cramp... Dodo! Do you hear me? Get over here NOW! I need some help... 'entertaining' Mario! So MOVE IT! Get over here NOW!" Valentina screamed for Dodo.

"Its over, Valentina!" Mallow called out. Valentina was almost panicing.

"Dodo! DODO! Get over here THIS MINUTE!" she screamed. Finally Dodo flew over from a section of the kingdom they had not been to before. Valentina smacked him. "Don't just stand there, HELP ME!" she shrieked. Dodo, taking his cue from Valentina, flew up and picked up Bowser and Geno, flying them to a different part of Nimbus Land. Valentina smirked.

"Oh ho ho! Looks like you're little friends aren't here to help you!" she cackled. Mallow, however, wasn't about to back down.

"Just because you got rid of a couple of my friends doesn't mean anything! How do you know we aren't seasoned fighters?" he called over to her. Valentina snickered.

"Boy, you may be a Nimbian, but you ain't got our powers!" Valentina laughed at Mallow, who felt his anger rising.

"I'll make you eat those words!" he shouted at her as he lept at Valentina. But Valentina just kicked him away and scoffed at him.

"Aww, whats wrong? Did widdle Mallow get hurt pwaying with the big kids?" Valentina mocked the young prince. Mallow trembled as he felt his anger rising.

But before he could even begin to charge energy, Dodo came back, closely followed by a triumphant looking Bowser and Geno.

"Dodo, you CAN'T have lost already! Idiot Bird!" Valentina screamed at him, causing poor Dodo to cower and whimper.

"Leave him alone! He doesn't like you, stop picking on him!" Geno yelled at Valentina, who scoffed at Geno.

"What are you going to do about it then, eh _Pinocchio_?" she said with a snicker. Geno's eyes flashed with anger.

"Theres more to me then just a doll...," He said in a soft, but deadly voice. But before he could move, Mallow stepped between the others and Valentina.

"No, Geno, this is my fight, and mine alone. All of you, stay out of it!" He commanded.

Everyone stared at him in shock, amazed he was going to take on such an opponment by himself. Valentina recovered her wits first, however, and began to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Mallow angrily demanded, thunder growling nearby. Valentina smirked and wiped a tear away from her eye.

"I'm sorry, you see, you are just a boy, while I am an aged to perfection women. You see, we Nimbians get stronger powers as we age. But even the youngest Nimbian can control their powers, when taught properly.

"So, you see, you are not very old, and you were not trained at all, period. So the thought of you taking me and winnng is preposteros!"

"Don't under-estimate me, Valentina...," Mallow warned, as he clutched his Ribbit Stick. Valentina smirked lightly and closed her eyes.

"Serious now, aren't we? Well now, looks like I have no choice." She opened her eyes, which too were now serious. "Then I guess its time for me to do what I should've done in the first place! I should've taken care of you personally!"

Valentina struck first, her long, fake nails reaching out to slash him viciously. Mallow, however, took advantage of his sized and ducked under, while using his staff to counter attack before leaping safely out of the way.

"Not bad," commented Valentina, genuinly impressed. "We Nimbians are not good jumpers, but you are. But, heh, unfortunitly for you, you're still out of you're league!"

"Oh yeah? I'm just getting warmed up!" Mallow countered, as he tried to stay calm. _I can't beat her if I lose my head right now. I've got to give it my all, and I can do this!_

This time, Valentina came at him with a fan. Mallow jumped away, but Valentina, anticipating the high jump this time, managed to strike up without warning and hit Mallow, who hit the ground with a thud, but was merely stunned.

Quickly he got up, and began to charge energy. Immdiatly "He'll be pie. And I'll be Queen!" entered his mind as he charged. But he didn't charge as much as usual, because he knew he would have to save that energy for the rest of the battle.

"Hmph, and just WHAT do you think you are doing?" Valentina scoffed at Mallow. Mallow couldn't help but smirk.

"Making you realise you just under-estimated me, Valentina!" he yelled as the clouds, momentarily puffy and white, suddenly became dark and stormy all around Nimbus Land. Valentina's eyes grew wide as she realised what was about to happen. That was when Mallow released the charged power, and called down his Shocker onto Valentina.

Valentina screamed, she had NOT expected him to call down lightning to attack, let alone of this magnitude. Quickly, however, she composed himself.

"Fool! You may have managed to master some of our power, but it is still insignifigant to me, a fully grown and experienced Nimbian!"

_Who said I mastered any of it? I didn't even use as much as I did fighting Mega Smilax!_ Mallow couldn't help but think to himself as he watched Valentina. It was then he realised he had made a horrible mistake and tried to brace himself, but it was too late.

He had never experienced fighting his own kind before, and thus didn't know Valentina was charging power until it was about to happen. Her own powerful bolt, much stronger then the one Mallow had used, came crashing down on top of him.

Valentina cackled at the sight of the fallen prince. But soon her laughter turned to amazement as she saw him getting up.

"You'll have to do better then that to beat me Valentina!" he yelled as he stood up, ready for her next move.

"You BRAT" she shrieked angrily as she charged more power. This time, instead of lightning, it was a powerful wind, coupled with rain, she aimed at the prince.

Mallow cried out as the wind struck him and knocked him off balance, due to Valentina's previous attack. But he grabbed hold of the cloud before the wind could sweep him away and held tight.

"Is that all?" he taunted her as the wind continued to blow, rain smacking into his face.

"You...you..." Valentina sputtered at she felt herself grow angry. Yelling in frusteration, she ceased her current attack as she got an idea as to what do do next. "You think you're tough beans, taking on two attacks from a fully grown Nimbian! But I can do more then just make a thunderstorm!"

_What is she doing?_ He couldn't help but wonder. As he watched, pretty pink petals formed around her, dancing...

As he watched the petals flew straight at him. They didn't look remotly pretty now, but like little razors that were comming right at him.

In fact, that's exactly what they were.

Each hit from one was more painful then the last. When the barrage had finally stopped, Valentina was looking down at him, smirking.

"Like my Petal Dance, do you? It's my signature move, a symbolic version of myself. Because beauty can be beautiful...but deadly!"

As she spoke, she kicked the young prince, causing more pain for his already battered body. But Mallow knew he could not give up.

Quickly, he summoned the strength to use Healing Rain. Each drop was like a little more strength going back into him. Soon he had to strength to stand up and face a very surprised Valentina.

"Too bad Valentina, I can heal myself."

"You cheating little RUNT!" she shrieked at him as she backslapped him across the face. Through the pain, however, Mallow glared at her, his eyes full of rightous fury.

"Well I, unlike you, don't hide behind others, and let them do the work for me! You may be older then me, but I've learned that that doesn't mean you're stronger then me, or wiser!"

As he was talking, he began to charge up his power to the max. "What IS he doing...?" flowed into his head. The fact that she wasn't expecting this gave him the confidence, and the inner strength, to do what he was about to do.

"You've got to be bluffing kid. No child has the strength to take ME, Queen Valentina, down!" she said as she watched him charge power.

"Sorry Valentina, but I'm not bluffing!" he cried, moments away from creating the attack. Valentina suddenly became horrified as she realised the truth.

"What kind of Nimbian has this power! Who IS this kid?" She shouted as she stared up at the dark cloud above that was going to deliver the attack. Mallow looked her straight in the eye before he responded.

"My name is Prince Mallow Nimbus... And you are not welcome in my kingdom!" he shouted. Immidiatly afterwards, the strongest Shocker he had ever created crashed down onto Valentina.

Valentina groaned. She knew the kid would pack a good punch in that last attack, but she wasn't expecting it to have been THAT strong. As she struggled to get up, she saw ALL of Mallows companions had gathered around her, with looks that meaned bussiness. She couldn't help but feel nervous now.

"I can't believe this! Queen Valentina the great, losing to a KID...oh the shame... Dodo! DODO!" At her scream Dodo came running. She snapped her fingers.

"Time for 'plan G'... GET US OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

Gulping, Dodo flew up in the air, and hovered low enough for Valentina to grab onto his talons, before flying up and away. Laughing, Valentina called down to the stunned team, not to mention all the shocked Nimbians nearby.

"Sayonara, suckers! Valentina WILL return! ...someday." And then Valentina and Dodo were lost amongst the clouds.

"Great, she's gone...," Mallow said with a sigh as he watched her vanish, before he shook his head, coming to his senses. "Wait, what are we doing? We have to catch her! She has that key, I know she does!"

"What do I look like, a magician? I can't fly!" Bowser grumbled in annoyance. No sooner had the words left his mouth, something small, gold, and glittering fell from the air and onto Mallows head.

"Ow! That hurt...," he groaned as he rubbed his head.

"Look! It's a key!" Toadstool exclaimed at the tiny object, which was indeed a key.

"Problem solved, Mallow," Mario said with a smile as he handed the key to Mallow, whos face was a look of utter delight. Geno nodded.

"Go on, free them, my friend. We'll just wait here."

"Are you sure it's Ok? You guys won't mind?" Mallow nervously asked. Toadstool just laughed.

"We wouldn't want to intrude. Go on now, you've earned it!" Mallow smiled and nodded.

"Allright. I'll be back as soon as I can!"

No sooner had he said that he had turned and, ignoring all of his fellow Nimbians staring, ran into the Palace.

The guard bandits were still there, but were fleeing as fast as they could fly. Ignoring them, Mallow was running through the "maze" of hallways as fast as he could to the dungeon as his first stop.

He quickly made it to the cells, looking around for the prison guards. Luckily they were gone, and in their hurry, had dropped the key to the cell. Mallow grabbed it, and jogged to the cell were all the old palace guards and caretakers were. At the sight of Mallow, they had all lept up and clustered around the cell door.

"Did everything go allright?" Jonas asked aniously. Mallow smiled and winked as he help up the key Valentina had before he unlocked their door.

"Mission accomplished! I took Valentina down," he said happily. "But we still have to save my parents!"

"Quickly! Where are they?" Jonas asked, clearly worried. Mallow gestured.

"Follow me, hurry!"

Shortly before the fight...

Queen Nimbus yawned, awoken from a short nap. She rolled over, prepared to go back to sleep, when she froze: she had heard voices that WEREN'T bandit-guards, nor was it Valentina.

Sitting up, she turned towards her still sleeping husband and shook him gently, but firmly.

"Cumulous, wake up! Wake up!" she whispered before he finally awoke, yawning and stretching.

"Where's the fire...?" he asked sleepily. Skyheart couldn't help but roll her eyes before responding.

"I heard voices! And it wasn't Valentina or those nasty bandits either."

"Not Valentina or the bandits? Then who WAS-" He stopped midsentance as they both heard a voice speak that made their eyes widen and their hearts beat faster, though they couldn't say why.

It was a young boy they heard, but he was speaking so quietly, alls they heard was a mere rustle of a voice. Following his voice was a gruff one, the young boy again, a different, wise voice, a young, pretty female voice, and a mans voice.

As they struggled to hear what they were saying, the gruff voice began to shout at them, making them jump back in surprise. Following suit the gruff voice was the wise voice, and then, the unmistakable whine of a Shy Away! And then, silence.

"Who WAS that? There were five of them, at least." Skyheart said excitedly.

"I've no idea. But there was a young voice... A boys voice..." Cumulous muttered, perplexed.

"I know... He seems... Fimilliar..." his wife responded, just as clueless.

There was silence for many more minutes before they heard a horrible battle take place somewhere out side. There was wind, rain, and many EXPLOSIONS of thunder! And finally, a nerve wracking silence that made them sweat. Both of them knew that the fight had decided their fates, and they both were too scared to make a noise.

Finally they heard another voice again, and pounding footsteps. And the young voice again.

"They're here! Right behind this door, I know they are!" he said happily. A second voice responded, the voice of Jonas, the head guard.

"I don't doubt you! Let's let them out now, at long last!"

Moments later, a bright light filled the dark little room as the light from the hallway spilled inside. Quickly, the two monarchs walked out of the room, and looked around.

Assembled all around them were the guards and workers of the castle, kneeling. The nearest one to them was Jonas.

"Jonas! I knew I had heard you!" King Nimbus exclaimed happily. The guards and workers all around them got up, smiling.

"Your majestys. We would have freed you sooner, but Valentina captured us and locked us all up in the dungeons..."

"Don't worry about it," Queen Nimbus told them kindly. "We've been locked up ourselves, and terrified for that matter. We probably would've been executed soon had you not escaped and overpowered Valentina!"

Jonas, however, was shaking his head, as was everyone else.

"No, no! It wasn't us at all!"

King and Queen Nimbus looked at each other, both puzzeled, for a moment, before they turned back to Jonas.

"But...then who was it?" In response, the head guard couldn't help but smile.

"Ah, wait until you see indeed!" He turned his head and called gently. "Come on, don't be shy. I promise you that you've missed you very much indeed."

At his coaxing, a young Nimbian boy about twelve years old came out from behind some guards, looking incredibly nervous and shy. His hair was a pink lock curled tightly on his forehead, with large, brown eyes. And he looked almost exactly like a much younger Cumulous.

Aside from that main fact, there was nothing to suggest that it was their son. But all the same, their hearts were pounding, and their breath was comming much quicker then normal.

Mallow looked at them nervously, for he had expected that the stress of losing him, and being locked in there for several days would make them look quite old. To his surprise, he saw that they still look pretty young, as though not even the stress of running a kingdom had affected them. And they sounded exactly like the wish-echo on Star Hill!

And he remembered them. He couldn't say how, exactly, or why, but he knew it was them the moment he looked at them. All in all, it was no wonder his heart was beating so rapidly right now.

"I, uhm, came to rescue you when we realised what Valentina was doing. After we arrived here, I mean! So we, er, broke in and stopped her, Valentina. Well, I, uh did, anyways..." he muttered nervously. His words trailed off when he saw the King and Queen walk right up to him and look down at him. Mallow gulped, feeling incredibly nervous now.

"Mallow..." Queen Nimbus breathed softly after a few moments of silence. Mallow nodded.

"Yeah, that's my name... I've gone by that for as long as I can remember," he replied, unsure of what else to say.

To his surprise, Queen Nimbus suddenly grabbed him and began sobbing: immidiatly it began to rain outside.

"Oh Mallow, our little Mallow..." she wispeared softly as she hugged him. Even more to Mallow's surprise, King Nimbus began hugging him too, also crying.

"Its us, Mallow. Your mom and dad..."

"Oh Mallow, I can't belive you're still alive! After all these years, you've come back to us..."

Any doubt left in Mallow evaporated at that moment. He too began to cry as he hugged them back as tightly as he could.

"I've missed you so much," he managed to choke out, as the three of them had their tearful reunion, at long last.

When they could speak again, Mallow began to explain everything, how he had been raised by Frogfucius at Tadpole Pond, his meeting with Mario, and their quest for the Star Pieces throughout the land that led them to Nimbus Land.

"...And after Valentina flew away with Dodo, I came back in and freed everyone," Mallow finished.

"Simply amazing," King Nimbus said with a nod. "I would expect nothing less from a child of mine, of course. Why, back in the day..."

"Yes, but what about the others you traveled with?" Queen Nimbus interrupted.

"Oh, well, they said they would wait outside so they wouldn't interrupt our reunion," Mallow explained.

"Well now, that simply won't do," King Nimbus said. "I insist that you bring them in at once for a proper thanking."

"Ok," Mallow nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes!" he said as he turned and left. As he made is way back out through the palace he noticed the palace workers were nearly finished replacing the Valentina statues with those of his parents, and that the bird cages were occupied once again. It felt much more welcoming because of it.

Exiting the palace, Mallow saw the group where he last left them, though a bit wetter than the were before. Slightly embarrassed, Mallow gestured for them to come and led them back to the throne room where his parents waited.

"Mom...Dad...I'd like you to meet Mario, and my other travel companions!" Mallow introduced the group, still feeling shy around his parents.

"I say! How can we ever thank all of you enough!" King Nimbus said, stepping forward. "I'm Mallow's father, King Nimbus," he formally introduced himself.

"Hello, everyone." Queen Nimbus stepped forward beside her husband. "Thank you so much for looking after our dear child."

"Allow me to introduce everyone!" Mallow smiled. He gestured to Toadstool, the one closest to him. "This...is Princess Toadstool from the Mushroom Kingdom."

"It is wonderful to meet both of you, I am honored," Toadstool smiled and curtseyed politely.

"Ah! I've heard so much about you!" King Nimbus said, eyes shining bright with excitement. "May I...have your autograph?" he asked, to everyone's surprise.

"Don't embarrass Mallow, dear!" Queen Nimbus quickly said.

"Oh, nevermind...," King Nimbus was rather disappointed as he turned towards Mario. "And, who is this gentleman here?"

"THIS...is Mario!" Mallow grinned. "He helped me from the start!"

"I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said to Mario.

"It's been my pleasure," Mario replied with a smile and a nod. Almost instantly King Nimbus' excitement returned as he realized who stood before him.

"You don't mean...THE Mario? Jumping Mario? Autograph, please!" King Nimbus asked again.

"That's quite enough, dear...," Queen Nimbus said, exasperated.

"Well, what about showing me a little jump? A tiny hop will do!"

The group looked to Mario, who seemed understanding, since this wasn't the first time this had happened on their journey. He leaped high into the air with a fancy little spin before landing. King Nimbus was practically leaping himself, he was that ecstatic.

"Oh! FANTASTIC!" he exclaimed. "...Show me again later," he whispered when he didn't think his wife was listening, before turning his attention to Bowser. "Now, who do we have over here?"

"This is Bowser, leader of the Koopa Troop," Mallow introduced Bowser, who smirked and let out a gruff guffaw.

"Oh! Another famous person! This is just too much! I must have your autograph!" King Nimbus yet again asked.

"Dear...behave yourself, please!" Queen Nimbus scolded her husband.

"Not even a little scribble? Very well...," King Nimbus seemed a bit dejected before continuing. "I am quite forgetting my manners," He turned towards Geno, curious and confused. "Who do we have here?"

"This is Geno, who I told you about before," Mallow explained. Geno responded with a simple nod.

"Yes of course. That story about the Star Street! How awful!" King Nimbus exclaimed.

"That's...Star Road...," Geno corrected him, slightly exasperated.

"Oh!" Queen Nimbus spoke up. "About that! Right before Valentina took over, a large star fell into Barrel Volcano!"

"Are you sure? Then we must go there right away! How can we reach it?" Mario asked.

"The royal hot springs are the closest point above the volcano. You should be able to reach it from there, so long as Mallow is accompanying you to the springs," she explained. King Nimbus looked thoughtful.

"Hmm, but the dreaded Czar Dragon inhabits the depth of the volcano. It's going to be tough to get anything out of there! But, perhaps all of you working together COULD handle that beast... Why, when I was young, I...," King Nimbus started to go off.

"Yes, dear...," Queen Nimbus interrupted him before turning to the group. "Now, once you're at the volcano, try to find Hinopio. He'll be able to help you out," she explained. Mario nodded.

"Hinopio. Got it!"

With a concerned look in her eyes, she turned to Mallow. "Please be careful now, Mallow! I know you've in other dangerous areas fighting strong beasts, but please be careful,"

"Sure, Mom!" Mallow replied. "We'll come back after we find the star!"

With that, the five of them exited the throne room and made their way back out of the palace and to the royal hot springs. Once access was granted thanks to Mallow, they entered the little area and looked around.

"Eh, this isn't so bad," Bowser said as he dipped a foot into the springs to try it out. "How'd you like to take a dip with me Toadstool?" he asked with a smirk.

But Toadstool wasn't listening. She, like the others, had her attention on the volcano opening directly below them. Without saying a word, Mario leapt straight off of the cloud! Geno immediately followed suit. Taking a big, deep breath, Mallow jumped down after them.

Luckily there was a springboard within the volcano, so Mallow landed softly. Moments after Toadstool and then Bowser landed beside him.

"Is there really a Star Piece down here?" Toadstool asked nervously as she looked around.

"Unless Smithy has already beaten us to it, yes," Geno replied. "Let's go, we probably don't have much time."

As they set off deep into the volcano, Mallow found it unbearably hot, even moreso than the desert! As they searched for the star, Mallow concentrated on anything cold he could think of to try and get through it.

"Hey! Who's turning down the heat?" Bowser suddenly exclaimed, the only one who seemed unbothered by the heat of the nearby magma.

Mallow was startled. He had only been thinking about blizzards, surely it was a coincidence...right?

Yet he thought back to his fight with Valentina, and what she had said, as well as the abilities she used. He wondered if, perhaps, he could do more than create rain and lightning.

Mallow snapped back into reality when the others stopped. Standing before them in front of the entrance of a little cave was a strange looking Toad, who dressed in black and had a flame patterned cap.

"Hey there! Thought I heard footsteps! For a minute I thought I was nuts! I'm Hinopio," he introduced himself. "This place is a regular inferno! C'mon, step inside my mart!" he beckoned.

"Queen Nimbus said you could help us," Mario explained as they went into the small mart set up within the cave. Mallow sighed; it was significantly cooler in there!

"You bet I can help. If you're gonna fight the Czar Dragon, you need better clothes then that! My clothes will help protect against fire-based attacks, or your money back!"

"We'll take them," Mario said as he bought something for all of them.

After quickly changing Mallow and the rest of the group were led to the exit by Hinopio.

"Sure you don't wanna stay longer?" Hinopio asked. "Rest on my nice comfy beds for a while?" he said as he gestured to some crates.

"Uh, maybe another time," Mario quickly answered. "Right now we need to find the Star Piece."

"Well there's not much left to explore down here, so it's probably up ahead. Watch out for the Czar Dragon!"

"Thank you, we will!" Mario said as they ventured back out into Barrel Volcano. Except for the bubbling of the magma, it was just as quiet as the rest of the volcano.

"I don't like this," Toadstool spoke up as they walked forward. "We've not encountered anything since we came down here. It's unnerving."

"Probably because of the Czar Dragon," Geno said, looking around. "It must be nearby if we've not seen it yet,"

No sooner did he finish speaking when there was a deafening roar. Mallow yelled; for a moment he thought they were about to be caught in an eruption, but suddenly the source materialized before them. The Czar Dragon!

With a second roar it began to furiously attack them, flinging even larger fireballs than Megasmilax did everywhere. The only thing that prevented them from becoming soot was Toadstool's constant healing spells.

"You're not the only one who can attack from afar! Have some of this!" Geno yelled as he fired his beams, but to no great effect. Mallow charged up, "Begone from my volcano!" entered his head, and he unleashed Shocker down upon Czar Dragon, but that too had little effect.

"Wish we had that Yaridovich pole with us," Bowser grumbled. "That thing would be dead in two seconds with that water explosion he used on us,"

At that moment Mallow remembered the attacks Valentina used, and the brief cool-down earlier when he was trying not to think of the sweltering heat.

"I have an idea," Mallow said. "I don't know if this will work, but...,"

Mallow began to charge up again (Czar Dragon's thoughts were unchanged), but this time began to focus the energy differently, concentrating on the idea of blizzards before attempting to unleash his attack.

And a massive blizzard engulfed Czar Dragon. It had worked! Curiously, it took the form of a massive snowman before dissipating. With an agonized cry, Czar Dragon collapsed and sank into the magma.

"Mallow, that was amazing!" Toadstool praised him. "I didn't know you could do something like that."

"Neither did I," Mallow replied with a slight blush. "But somehow I had a feeling it would wor-"

At that moment something burst out of the lava. The skeletal remains of Czar Dragon! Bowser snorted, less then impressed.

"You're not so tough! Have some 'o this!" Bowser yelled as he swung his spiked ball into Czar Dragon's skeleton. Bones scattered everywhere and harmlessly sunk into the lava. The group waited, but Czar Dragon didn't return this time.

"Let's go," Mario said at last. "The star must be up ahead."

And sure enough the crimson Star Piece awaited them in the next room. Circling the group and healing everyone, the Star Piece was moments away from touching Mario's hand before it suddenly vanished.

"Look! Up there!" Geno yelled as he pointed to a ledge about them. A strange, red metal creature with an axe had the Star Piece!

"We got the Star!" he eagerly exclaimed. Beside him a second, simmilar creature with an axe appeared beside him, this one skinny and green.

"We're amazing!" he yelled. Above them, a fat, yellow one appeared.

"We're unbeatable!" that one added. Beside him, a pink female materialized.

"We're gorgous!" she sad with a pose. Next to her, the final one, black with shades, materialized as well.

"You better leave now, chumps!" he called down to them before the group left that particular room with the star. Quickly getting over their shock, Mario and the others rushed up after them into the next room.

Gathered above them with the Star Piece, the strange Smithy group looked down at them.

"Hey, Red! Look down there! That's gotta be the ugliest mustache I've ever seen!" the black one remarked.

"Eww! Gross!" the pink one exclaimed.

"That guy's wrose looking than that clod, Mario!" the yellow one added.

"That IS mario, you IDIOT!" he was corrected by green.

"Listen everyone!" the red leader addressed his team. "We gotta get this star to the Blade immediately! We'll deal with Mario LATER!"

At his words the team rushed out.

"I can't believe it! We were too late!" Toadstool lamented.

"It's all HIS FAULT!" Bowser pointed at Mallow. "We wasted all that time helping out his stupid family!"

"But we wouldn't have found out where the Star Piece was if we didn't help my mom and dad!" Mallow argued back, looking upset and feeling horribly guilty.

"We're not too late!" Mario said, interrupting them. "We can still catch them, let's hurry!"

"Yes, let's go!" Geno agreed. At his words they all rushed after the Smithy team, climbing higher and higher. As the team always seemed to be just ahead of them, Mallow wondered if it were even possible to catch them.

And then they had exited the volcano. The Smithy team seemed to be ignoring them, waiting for something. It was sunset; Mallow hadn't realized they had spent that much time inside Barrel Volcano.

"Where is the Blade?" the pink member asked, looking around.

"He'll be here!" the red leader reassured her.

"Are you sure?" the black member seemed less than certain.

"Relax!"

"Mario and his friends are HERE!" the yellow member yelled.

"He's too late!" the red leader yelled back.

"Where's the Blade?" the green member yelled, frantic.

"Shuddap, already!" the leader shouted.

Moments later a massive ship with an enormous axe blade on the front arrived and hovered nearby. Without hesitating the Smithy team leapt aboard.

"C'mon!" Mario yelled. "Now's our chance to get them!" he said as he jumped after them. Following suit, Geno jump aboard as well, followed by Bowser, Mallow, and Toadstool bringing up the rear. Finally the team turned their full attention to them.

"We fight for evil!"

"We live for disorder!"

"We like what we do!"

"We struggle for chaos!"

"We are..."

"The AXEM RANGERS!" the team formally introduced themselves, though with a series of outlandish poses. Mallow would have found it funny, if he didn't have a bad feeling about guys.

"This Star Piece gives people hope! It needs to be destroyed!" Axem Red stated.

"And as long as we have hope, then we'll fight you until it's ours!" Mario said back to him before charging at Axem Red. Bowser and Geno leapt at Axems Yellow and Black, and Toadstool turned towards Axem Pink, leaving Mallow with Axem Green.

"You don't look so tough!" Mallow taunted Axem Green.

"I could say the same for you, puffy!" Axem Green taunted back before unleashing a series of powerful magic attacks at Mallow.

But not so powerful that Mallow couldn't stand them. Healing himself, Mallow charged up energy, "I can handle one little kid!" flowing into his mind. Mallow smirked, and then began unleashing one powerful Shocker after the other until Axem Green nearly collapsed.

"Enough!" Axem Red shouted, interrupting all of the fighting. "You've made me angry! I'm finishing this now!"

At his command the other Axem Rangers followed him behind a strange machine with a face on the deck. Mallow hardly noticed it before, but he watched it now as a series of hatches on it opened.

"Breaker Beam...FIRE!" Axem Red yelled, and at his words a massive, powerful beam was unleashed. Mallow nearly collapsed, but luckily Toadstool was there to heal their injuries.

"What do we do, Mario? I don't know if we can take another one of those beams!" Mallow asked, a bit fearful.

"Don't worry. Just leave it to me!" Geno said, stepping forward. As the hatches opened again, Geno began to charge up massive amounts of energy. Then, just as the Breaker Beam was about to fire again, Geno fired his own, more massive than ever before, beam, directly into the Blade!

At once it set off a chain reaction and the Blade began to fall from the sky.

"This isn't happening! We were supposed to be invincible!" Axem Red cried out.

"Let's go!" Mario yelled, and together the five of them leapt off the Blade and safely onto Barrel Volcano. Below them they witnessed the Blade crash spectacularly.

"But where...?" Mallow began to ask, but his question was instantly answered as the Star Piece floated down into Mario's arms at last, healing them all before properly vanishing!

"That was a close one. But we succeeded just the same," Geno stated simply.

"So...now what?" Toadstool asked as she looked around. Mario shrugged.

"I...don't really know. Maybe we should head back to Nimbus Land first and plan our next move there," Mario said.

Mallow turned back towards Bean Valley, where his home waited above. They had a long walk ahead of them!


End file.
